The Simple Glaze That Supercharges The Flavor Of Breaded Chicken

Breaded chicken is one of those dishes that can easily go from being extremely crunchy and flavorful to downright rubbery and bland. Though the recipe might appear simple on the surface, even a small mistake when breading chicken, like not beating the eggs properly or not seasoning them enough, can throw it off. If you happen to have baked or fried up a mediocre batch (or even a finger-lickin' good one), there's a quick and easy way to take it up a notch and supercharge your breaded chicken: glazing it with hoisin sauce. Hoisin sauce can take your breaded chicken from a five to a 10, perhaps more than any other sauce. This is because it has the perfect combination of salty, sweet, and just the right amount of tang. The wide spectrum of undertones and flavors created by fermented soybeans and garlic, along with that kick of chili and the five-spice mix, creates an indulgent concoction that can make even the blandest of fried chicken taste sublime. 

Hoisin sauce makes for a great way to upgrade the flavor of your breaded chicken because, much like barbecue sauce, its thick consistency helps coat the chicken and wrap it in a blanket of umami. If you're sold on this idea, adding hot sauce to your chicken marinade can give your recipe an even greater edge. 

You don't really need a recipe to know what to do with hoisin sauce and breaded chicken. It's more about adding that little extra step to tie all the flavors together. The easiest way to approach it would be to warm the sauce just a bit and brush it right over freshly fried cutlets or chicken schnitzel to take your recipes up a notch. This will give your breaded cutlets an almost lacquered look and make them feel like they came out of a restaurant kitchen. You can also use a similar process to make hoisin-glazed chicken tenders or some sticky hoisin nuggets, where the sauce can double up as a coating and a dip.

Glazing breaded chicken with hoisin sauce works especially well in dishes that already lean into Asian flavors, like General Tso's chicken or even chicken katsu. Toss the breaded chicken around in a skillet with a few spoonfuls of hoisin, letting the heat help the sauce cling to every crispy edge. If the hoisin feels a touch too sweet or sticky, you can cut it with a splash of rice vinegar to get a more well-rounded taste. Another great way is to brush hoisin sauce over baked breaded chicken during the last few minutes in the oven. It will help caramelize the chicken and add a glaze that's a little like barbecue, but with deeper, more layered flavors. This would be a particularly tasty addition to baked chicken thighs. If light appetizers are what you're after, try mixing hoisin with chili paste or honey before tossing it over popcorn-sized chicken bites. You're likely to end up with something that is sticky, crunchy, and almost impossible to stop eating.