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This Mafa Chicken with Honey Mustard Sauce is crispy fried chicken perfection. The strong marinade the chicken soaks in gives it the most amazing flavor.
Featured with this Recipe
I actually got this recipe from my husband’s Mom. It has been a secret family recipe of theirs for years and years. However, they finally allowed us to post it on Favorite Family Recipes! Every Christmas Eve we make an entire Chinese dinner, and Mafa is a staple! My husband especially loves this the next day cold (if he is lucky enough to get leftovers!). This is truly a favorite family recipe! Thank you Walker family for sharing!!!
Ingredients in Mafa Chicken
- *Secret Ingredient* – read on to find out!
- Soy Sauce
- Sugar
- Garlic
- Chicken Breasts
- Eggs
- Wondra Flour
- Oil for Frying
Sauce Ingredients
- Honey
- Mayonnaise
- Dijon Mustard
Secret Ingredient
Mafa Chicken is a Chinese recipe. It is chicken breast dipped in a batter and then deep fried. It will surprise you to learn that the batter includes tofu! The tofu gives the batter a really great texture, so don’t be spooked! When the chicken is done, it slightly resemble the nuggets at Chick-fil-A. However, this recipe is SO much better. We love to serve it with our honey mustard dipping sauce. The flavors compliment each other perfectly!
More Dipping Sauce Options
We love dipping this Mafa Chicken in honey mustard sauce, but it tastes great in a variety of sauces, including:
- Sweet and Sour Sauce
- Hot Mustard
- BBQ Sauce
- Fry Sauce
Frequently Asked Questions About Mafa Chicken
We like to serve this with white rice or fried rice. Or, we serve it with other Asian-inspired dishes like chicken chow mein, mandarin chicken, or egg rolls.
Another ingredient on the list that you might not be familiar with is Wondra Flour. Wondra Flour is a brand of instant flour that became the household name for this type of flour (kind of like Kleenex and Xerox). Instant flour is a finely-ground wheat flour. It is pre-cooked and dried. It is perfect for making batter to fry.
You can find it in the grocery store next to the regular flour. It comes in a small blue container.
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How to Make Mafa Chicken
Mafa Chicken with Honey Mustard Sauce
Ingredients
Batter:
- 1 pkg Tofu
- 1/3 c. soy sauce
- 1/3 c. sugar
- 6 Garlic Cloves
- 7 Chicken breasts
- 2 eggs
- Wondra Flour
- Oil for frying
Dipping Sauce:
- ¼ c. honey
- 1/2 c. mayonnaise
- 2-3 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard
Instructions
- Blend batter ingredients thoroughly in blender til you have a smooth mixture. Cut up chicken breasts into chicken nugget size pieces and marinate in the above mixture in the fridge overnight.
- If it is cold enough, we keep the chicken in the garage. If you keep it in the fridge put a good seal over the chicken and sauce because this stuff has a strong smell!!
- Before cooking stir 2 eggs into the mixture and thoroughly coat each piece of chicken in “Wondra” flour. Deep fry at about 350 degrees until pieces are brown and completely cooked.
For the dipping sauce:
- Mix mayonnaise, honey and mustard. Chill and serve.
Notes
- Sweet and Sour Sauce
- Hot Mustard
- BBQ Sauce
- Fry Sauce
So flavorful and delcious! Yum! Where has this been my whole life? My new favorite!
Wow, I will be using this recipe more often. Crispy, breaded chicken is a favorite. You can’t tell there’s tofu, which my kids will never know!
Yummy! This look so delicious and tasty! My kids are going to love this recipe! So excited!
Are you from treasure valley? Or family from treasure valley? Just wondering because I thought this recipe came from the treasure valley my dad has been making it for years let me know 🙂
Yes! Emily and Erica live in Treasure Valley, and our parents live there as well. It’s a beautiful place!
My family used to own the East Side Cafe in the late eighties/early nineties. We still serve Mafa Chicken in our restaurant today – Far East Restaurant in Ontario, just blocks from the old East Side location. My mother learned the original recipe from the founders of the East Side.
Oh wow! What a small world! That is so awesome, thanks for sharing!
I’m confused about the 2 eggs. Do they go into the marinade before the chicken is refrigerated, or right before it’s breaded?
You stir the eggs in right before you bread them. It’s better to let it marinade without the eggs.
I have to know where your husband is from cause there is only one place I know that make mafa! Your recipe is slightly different than what I do but similar!
He is from a little town in Idaho called Weiser. 🙂
LOL I lived in Payette and Fruitland area in the 80’s and 90’s. We used to get Mafa Chicken at the Eastside Café in Ontario. Never found it since. This recipe is amazing. My family loves it.
That is crazy you have heard of Mafa! That is probably where the Original idea came from lol small world!
Idaho Native – I would get mine from Orphan Annie’s in Caldwell – sadly they closed and I am looking for a replacement. There is a restaurant in Mt. Home that does Mafa Shrimp, when I asked if they could do chicken they said no. So it must be premade or frozen. Sad. I will be trying this recipe. Thanks for sharing!
I’m from Weiser! My mom used to make the best Mafa Chicken when I was young. I recently got her recipe box from my dad….but sadly no mafa chicken recipe. I searched the web and cracked up when I saw your recipe…..it was humorous because I follow your site and have made many of your recipes. I lived in Maui and love love love your Hawaiian recipes. Thank you so much for sharing your recipes. My son and I love cooking together on these cold rainy Pacific Northwest nights. Go Wolverines!!!!
any substitute for wondar flour? i can’t find it in my country
You can use regular flour.
What is Wondra flour? I’ve never heard of it.
It’s a finer flour in a canister. Usually above the regular flour at the grocery store.
This sounds great! Do you use the silken tofu that’s on the regular shelf, not refrigerated? Or is it the refrigerated stuff in water? I think the texture could be way wrong if you don’t use the right kind of tofu. Thank you!
I have always used the refrigerated stuff in water.
I just love your web site. Reminds me back when I was growing up.
Thank you so much for this nice comment! That is totally our goal. We want to make delicious recipes that remind you of home. 🙂
Making this today for the 4th of July. I live in the little town of Weiser Idaho.
We love Weiser! Emily’s husband Beau is from Weiser. This recipe came from his family.
is it firm tofu?
yes!
Can you coat the pieces in all purpose flour or does the Wondra make a difference?
Wondra flour is what makes it so light and crispy and good! You can use all-purpose but it won’t be as tasty!
A family secret recipe and it tastes better than Chick-fil-A?! I absolutely will be trying this out this weekend. So glad they let you share!
What type of tofu? Silken or firm…