I discovered this one recently and it has already become one of my most repeated weeknight dinners. It sounds like it should take longer than it does — a glossy, sticky sauce coating crispy pan-fried chicken, a punchy spicy cucumber salad on the side, and a base of rice or instant-style noodles to soak everything up. But from fridge to table it takes about 20 minutes, which is the kind of cooking I actually do when I’m hungry and don’t want to think too hard.
The sauce is inspired by teriyaki but more interesting — the sriracha and gochujang give it heat that you can dial up or down depending on your mood, the rice vinegar cuts through the sweetness of the honey, and the potato starch makes it cling to the chicken in exactly the right way. The cucumber salad is the kind of thing that looks like a side but ends up being half the reason you keep going back for more.
Serve it over rice or, my personal preference, those thin instant-style noodles you can buy separately. They absorb the sauce beautifully and make the whole thing feel like proper takeout.
Asian-style chicken in teriyaki sauce with spicy cucumber
Ingredients
For the sauce:
- 3 tbsp Soy sauce
- 2 tbsp Honey
- 1 tbsp Rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp Sriracha
- 2 cloves Garlic minced
- 1 tsp Potato starch
- 60 ml Water
For the chicken:
- 600 g Chicken breast cut into cubes
- 1 tbsp Potato starch
- 1 spray Rapeseed oil spray for frying
- Spring onion and sesame seeds to garnish
For the spicy cucumber:
- 1 Cucumber
- 1 tbsp Peanut butter aaprox. 10-15g
- 1 tsp Gochujang paste
- 1 tbsp Honey
- 1 tbsp Sesame seeds
- 2 tbsp Rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp Soy sauce
- 1 tsp Sriracha
- 1 tbsp Spring onion
- 1 pinch Ground ginger
To serve:
- Steamed rice or thin instant-style noodles
Instructions
Make the spicy cucumber
- Slice the cucumber into thin rounds and place in a container with a lid.
- Add all the remaining cucumber ingredients, close the lid, and shake well to combine.
- Set aside in the fridge while you prepare the chicken — the flavours develop as it sits.
The chicken
- Cut the chicken breast into bite-sized cubes.
- Transfer to a bowl, add the heaped tablespoon of potato starch, and toss until all the pieces are evenly coated.
- Spray a frying pan with rapeseed oil and heat over medium-high.
- Add the chicken in a single layer and fry until golden and cooked through on all sides, about 6–8 minutes. Do not overcrowd the pan — work in batches if needed.
- Mix all sauce ingredients together in a small bowl or jug.
- Pour over the cooked chicken in the pan and stir over medium heat for 1–2 minutes until the sauce thickens and coats the chicken. Sprinkle over the spring onion and sesame seeds.
- Serve immediately over rice or thin noodles, with the spicy cucumber on the side.
Notes
Nutrition
Once you make this once, you will understand why it has become a weekly rotation in my kitchen. It is genuinely quick, endlessly adjustable, and the kind of meal that feels like more effort than it was. If spicy food is your thing, push the gochujang and sriracha up freely, the sauce handles it well. If you are cooking for someone who runs from heat, drop both to a small amount and the result is still delicious, just rounder and gentler.
The cucumber salad keeps well in the fridge for a day or two, so if you want to meal prep, make a double batch of that ahead of time and the actual cooking becomes even faster.
