Home / Main Ingredient / Poultry / Kumquat Chicken with Kumquat Hoisin Sauce
By: 👩‍🦳 Linda · · · 🗨 15 Comments
Recipe â–Ľ
Pan fried Kumquat Chicken drenched with a sweetish Kumquat Hoisin Sauce and a sprinkling of sesame seeds. Perfect with rice.
Kumquats are winter fruits that start appearing in the grocery stores in late November through March. This year, they seem to be a little late but I was delighted to see them and promptly picked out two bags. These tiny, bright orange oval fruits have a sweet rind and a tart flesh. They can be eaten raw and are pretty refreshing. I usually cut them in half to remove the seeds before popping them into my mouth. Kumquats can also be candied, made into marmalade and preserves, pickled, or cooked with meats for a citrusy flavor.
The Golden Orange
The name kumquat is derived from the Cantonese gam gwat which means “gold orange”. These fruits are considered auspicious and the shrubs are often used as ornamental plants during the Chinese (Lunar) New Year. Back in Malaysia, the kumquat shrubs have larger and rounder fruits and are mainly ornamental although they are edible. I do not remember ever eating the fruit from the tree. We only ate the candied ones imported from China. These are sometimes mixed with water to make a tea thought to help sooth sore throats.
Kumquat Sauce
Kumquats combine really well with chicken and pork. I like to make a sauce with them and pour it over pan fried meat medallions. The kumquat sauce is also wonderful poured over grilled or roasted meats.
For this Kumquat Chicken recipe I initially made it with pan fried boneless, skinless, chicken thighs. I then made a quick and simple Kumquat Hoisin Sauce to pour over the sliced, pan fried chicken thighs. This time round, I used chicken breasts cut into ÂĽ inch thick slices which I left whole after pan frying. It is good with chicken thighs or breasts. Love the way the dish turned out!
There weren’t too many kumquats in each half pound bag. I ate a few and used a few kumquats for this recipe and used the other bag for a Pickled Kumquat recipe coming up next. I do enjoy kumquats very much and went back to the store several days later and they were all out of them. They said that they will bring in more this week and so I need to go back there to check. I want to make Candied Kumquats and Salted Kumquats this time.
Similar Products Used in Making This Kumquat Chicken with Kumquat Hoisin Sauce
This post contains affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy here.
Traditional Heavy Gauge Hand Hammered Carbon Steel Pow Wok (14 inch, round bottom)
Traditional Carbon Steel Wok, Hand Hammered (14 inch, round bottom)
Carbon Steel Hand Hammered 14 inch Flat Bottom Wok (Gauge – 1.2mm)
Carbon Steel Wok 12-inch, flat bottom
Traditional Hand Hammered Carbon Steel Pow Wok (12 inch, rRound bottom)
4.67 from 3 votes
Kumquat Chicken
Pan fried Kumquat Chicken drenched with a sweetish Kumquat Hoisin Sauce and a sprinkling of sesame seeds. Perfect with rice.
Author : Linda Ooi
Course : Main Dish
Cuisine : Chinese
Keyword : kumquat chicken
Print Recipe Pin Recipe Rate this Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes mins
Cook Time 10 minutes mins
Total Time 25 minutes mins
Ingredients
- 20 oz chicken breasts * cut into ÂĽ inch thick slices (560g)
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 clove garlic (minced)
- 6 kumquats (thinly sliced)
- ½ tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
- 2 green onions (thinly sliced)
Marinade
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- ½ tsp ground Szechuan pepper
- ÂĽ tsp salt
Sauce
- 2 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp corn starch
- ÂĽ cup water
Instructions
Marinade chicken with soy sauce, Szechuan pepper, and salt for 20 minutes.
Combine all sauce ingredients in a small bowl.
Heat up wok or large fry pan. Add 2 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Place chicken thighs in a single layer in the pan. Fry 3 to 4 minutes on each side until golden brown and cook through.
Remove and arrange on a plate. When cool enough to handle, slice into ½-inch strips, if desired. Cover with aluminum foil to keep it warm.
Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in the same wok or in a small saucepan. Sauté mince garlic for 20 seconds. Pour in sauce mixture. The sauce will become thick and bubbly very quickly.
Stir in sliced kumquats and immediately turn off heat. Add sesame oil.
Pour sauce over cooked chicken. Sprinkle sesame seeds and sliced green onions on the top.
Serve immediately with steamed rice.
Notes
*You can also use 20 oz/560g boneless skinless chicken thighs, if preferred.
Nutrition
Calories: 389kcal
Tried this recipe?Mention @RotiNRice or tag #RotiNRice
NOTE: The original publication of this post was on December 12th, 2012. This republication comes with minor changes to the writeup and recipe.
Roti n Rice is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
Previous Post: « Chicken Curry (Classic Malaysian Style)
Next Post: Grilled New York Strip Steaks with Homemade Spice Rub »
Reader Interactions
Leave a Reply
Comments
kitchenriffs says
I don’t believe I’ve ever cooked with kumquats before. I don’t know why not – they have terrific flavor. And combined with chicken like this? I’ll bet this tastes outstanding! It certainly looks so pretty. Good stuff – thanks.
Reply
Biren says
Kumquats are my new favorite winter fruit. I am trying to use more of them in my cooking.
Reply
Ramona says
Fantastic way to use kumquats. What a lovely sweet and savory dish. 🙂
Reply
Biren says
You got it exactly right! It is a combination of sweet and savory and it whets one’s appetite.
Reply
mjskit says
My mother use to make kumquat jelly, so that’s the only kumquat anything I’ve ever tried. I can only imagine how wonderful they are with chicken and the other flavors you used. A tasty and easy dish which is perfect for this time of year. Now I need to find some kumquats!
Reply
Biren says
I want to try making kumquat jelly one of these days. I really do like the taste of kumquats.
Reply
Jeannie says
That looks like a very delicious dish, reminds of of lemon chicken which I love!Reply
Biren says
I actually got the idea from lemon chicken minus the deep frying. 🙂
Reply
denise @ singapore shiok says
I too have never cooked with kumquats, and have only ever thought of them as decorative plants for the Lunar New Year. Your kumquat chicken looks lovely though, and I love how short and simple your recipe is 🙂
Reply
Biren says
That’s right! Kumquat plants are mainly ornamental during the Chinese New year in Malaysia and Singapore. The ones here are more oval than round and I do love their taste. 🙂
Reply
Rumana says
So delicious and very yummy looking dish..
Reply
Biren says
Thanks Rumana! 🙂
Reply
Euge says
I was given some kumquats and I’ve no idea what to do with them, except to make it into a hot drink. I googled and saw your recipe. Although I don’t have hoisin sauce, I made do with oyster sauce and pan fried the kumquats very quickly just to release the aroma. It’s a beautiful dish with bright, punchy flavors! Thank you!Reply
Linda says
You are welcome and I am glad you found a substitute for hoisin sauce.
Reply
Jennifer says
Fantastic! I doubled the recipe except for the chicken, and used the other half of the kumquats and sauce on stir fried vegetables, which was also wonderful. I will be making this again.Reply
