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Fake-out Take-out

One of my favorite Chinese buffet foods, by far, is bourbon chicken. For one, it isn’t deep-fried, so I know it’s real chicken (because whatever is in that sweet-and-sour “chicken” is highly questionable). And the flavor is just incredible. But I’ve never made it at home because, well, bourbon just sounds expensive. It’s not just whiskey, it’s bourbon whiskey. Too fancy for my wallet, right? Wrong. You can actually get a fifth of great bourbon—Evan Williams Black Label—for about six bucks at Lucky Dog. This recipe only calls for half a cup, so you can use the rest for whiskey sours, Washington apples and of course, whisky and cokes. (Note: if you don’t want to include alcohol, check out the alternate recipe at the bottom of this post.)

There are a lot of bourbon chicken recipes floating around out there; most of them require marinating the chicken overnight, but really, who has time for that? So I combined the ingredients of one recipe (found on All recipes), tweaked them, and used the cooking instructions from another (found on RecipeZaar). Voila! An easy, affordable bourbon chicken that anyone can make.

Bourbon Chicken and Rice

You will need:

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup instant rice
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup bourbon
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp onion powder
• dash of Worcestershire sauce
• vegetable or canola oil
• salt and pepper

Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces and throw into a pan with a bit of vegetable oil. I always keep some sesame oil on hand, so I tossed some of that in the pan as well—it adds a warm, nutty flavor. Season the chicken with salt and pepper.

While that’s cooking, combine the soy sauce, bourbon, brown sugar, garlic powder, onion powder and Worcestershire sauce in a medium-sized pot. Whisk everything together and put over low heat.

When the chicken is cooked, add it to the sauce and bring to a hard boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes.

After about 10 minutes, add the water to a separate, smaller pot and bring to a boil. Add the instant rice and cover. Let sit for 5-7 minutes.

Serve the chicken over the rice and top with the extra sauce. Makes two servings.

If cooking with alcohol isn’t for you, or if you’re too young to buy it yourself, you can substitute these ingredients for the sauce (but use the same cooking instructions).

You will need:

• 1/4 cup apple juice
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tbsp ketchup
• 1 tbsp cider vinegar
• dash of Worcestershire sauce

Tags: chicken, College Kitchen, Emma Frankart, rice