- If you're looking for better than takeout bourbon chicken,
then this recipe is for you.
And if you like this video,
don't forget to hit that Like button and subscribe.
Hey, you're watching Preppy Kitchen, where I, John Kanell,
teach you how to make delicious homemade dishes
to share with your family and friends.
This bourbon chicken will be ready before you know it,
so let's get started.
First off, mince some garlic,
four to eight cloves, depending on how you feel.
Give that garlic a smash.
This is the best way to release the skin
and the oils inside of the garlic.
I know it might be tempting,
but you never use the pre-minced jarred garlic.
That does not taste the same.
You want fresh flavors for this.
Give it a nice mince.
Watch your fingers.
Okay, once your garlic's minced, set it aside,
and we're going to cut the chicken.
Today, I'm using two skinless chicken breasts,
but you could definitely double the recipe really easily
and, if you want, use dark meat, too.
We're going to cut the chicken into bite-size pieces.
You want this to cook really quickly,
so small pieces is better.
And while you're doing this prep work,
you could be making some rice, as well,
because that's what we'll be serving it with.
This is one of our favorite recipes at home.
I make it about once every two weeks at the very least.
Brian's obsessed with it.
It's really tasty.
And I like it because it's super quick.
We want this chicken to be crisp, delicious, really saucy,
but we're not going to deep fry it.
We're going to coat this in cornstarch
and cook it in just a bit of oil.
It's going to be amazing and super easy.
Oof (chuckles).
Okay, we're going to dust this with some cornstarch.
Look, my recipe says like a tablespoon or something,
but you can honestly use like quite a bit more.
And then just use your knife
to get like a nice coating.
Don't worry if it's not perfect.
You're just getting a light dusting all over the chicken.
Brian never watches me cook chicken,
so right now he's looking and saying,
"What's going on over here?"
Okay, look, this is what you want.
See, nice, coated.
It's going to be so crisp.
Okay, before we get this going,
we're going to make the sauce.
Let's put this aside.
And wash our hands.
(whistles)
Washing our hands.
So this is bourbon chicken.
We're going to use bourbon.
And this is why I have this comically large bottle on hand,
although I do like bourbon.
We want about 1/2, 1/3 of a cup, maybe 1/2.
There we go.
It gives you a lot of flavors.
Going to be so delicious.
1/3 of a cup of soy sauce.
I'm using light soy sauce, but both works.
Okay, 1/2 cup of chicken stock, in you go.
To this mixture, I'm adding 1/3 of a cup of brown sugar.
This is like a salty, sweet, really amazing sauce,
so the brown sugar does a lot in it.
1/2 teaspoon of onion powder.
1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger,
but you could definitely use fresh ginger if you want.
And 1/4 of a teaspoon or so of red pepper flakes.
A little heat adds a lot to this dish.
I'm adding a bit more.
Right now, we're going to mix this up,
just to dissolve the sugar, get everything going.
We're going to set this aside for the end.
Into a large skillet,
I'm adding about two tablespoons of olive oil.
It's a liberal two tablespoons.
We want this to get nice and hot.
You'll see the oil dancing on the surface.
And if you're making this dish,
it is really beneficial to use a heavy pan.
You want to have a nice conduction of heat
that's really even.
Thin pans can scorch things, and they have hot spots,
just by the by.
Also get your tongs out, because this will be sizzling away.
Once your oil's nice and hot, get to cooking.
And you can cook this in batches
if you're worried about crowding out the chicken too much.
I'll probably do this in two batches.
Separate all those bite-sized pieces up, too.
And if you want,
you could definitely season the chicken a little bit.
You could add your favorite spices.
I don't think it needs any salt or pepper
because of the spices in the sauce
that we'll be cooking this in.
You'll just need to cook the chicken
a couple of minutes on each side until it's cooked through.
They're really small pieces,
and we're cooking at fairly high heats.
Just let your chicken sit there.
You want to get some nice browning.
It's going to caramelize a bit.
The cornstarch is really going to help it crisp up nicely.
Okay, once you see some of the edges get nice and golden,
flip them over and continue cooking.
Look at that color, it's so pretty.
Brian, why do you like this dish so much?
- [Brian] Because it's good.
- Mm. (upbeat chime)
This is looking nice and golden.
We're going to transfer this to a bowl,
just to hang out while we cook the rest of the chicken.
Let me know in the comments if there's any dinner recipe
that you want me to try out for you.
I'm just doing my family favorites,
like bourbon chicken, orange chicken.
That's my favorite and it is fried up like fried.
So good.
But I'm always curious what you want to see, too.
Okay, my chicken is cooked through.
It's time to go on to the next step.
All those brown bits are going to be delicious,
so don't worry about them.
Let's decrease the heat just a little bit.
We're going to add our garlic
and cook for like 30 to 60 seconds,
just until it's fragrant.
You don't want it to burn,
and it'll burn really, really quick.
The sauce is basically magic.
You're going to fall in love with it.
Okay, nice and fragrant.
Let's mix it up one last time.
We're going to add the sauce in.
Just stir it up to deglaze the pan.
All that alcohol from the bourbon is cooking off right now,
so you're just being left with the flavor.
It's amazing.
Whoa.
Okay, we're going to reduce this to low.
Once it stops bubbling like crazy,
you know the alcohol is basically gone.
So we're going to add the chicken back in right now.
Right now, we're just gonna simmer on low
until the sauce reduces, thickens up slightly,
and everything gets glossy, coated, dark, and delicious.
While the chicken bubbles away,
we're going to chop some green onions to thin pieces.
This will be mixed in at the very end,
so it'll cook just a little bit.
But we'll also garnish the top with green onion.
It'll look really pretty.
If you take a look, my sauce is reduced down by about half.
It's looking thick, glossy, and amazing.
And we can add in most of the onions right now.
And they're going to cook up
and you won't even notice they're there
if people don't like them in your household.
Heat's off.
We're going to plate this up and enjoy.
If you liked this recipe,
don't forget to check out my easy dinner playlist.
Mm, so much better than takeout.
I'll see you in the next video.