Cut and season the chicken: Cut the thighs into uniform 1-inch pieces. Nobody wants to bite into a 2-inch chunk and find a pearly center. Toss with the garlic powder, salt, and pepper so the seasoning rides under the crust, not just on it.
Coat the chicken: Whisk the egg in a bowl and add the chicken, turning to coat every piece. Mix the cornstarch and flour in a zip-top bag, drop in the chicken, seal, and shake until each chunk wears an even, powdery jacket. No lumpy spots those fry into chalky bits.
Rest the coated pieces: Let the bag sit untouched for 10 minutes. This was the fix after my first attempt shed half its coating into the oil: the batter hydrates and grips during the rest, so it stays glued to the chicken instead of floating free. Use the time to whisk the sauce.
Whisk the sauce: In a small bowl, combine the chili-garlic sauce, soy sauce, ketchup, honey, rice vinegar, and chicken broth. Give it a taste it will seem aggressive and loose right now. That’s normal and intended; the reduction is about to fix both of those things.
Pan-fry in two batches: Heat 2 tbsp of oil in your skillet over medium-high until it shimmers and a test piece crackles on contact. Fry the chicken in a single layer, 3–4 minutes per side, until the crust is deep golden and craggy and the thickest piece reads 165°F. Drain on paper towels. Keep the batches honest overlapping pieces steam each other pale, and that’s how you lose the crunch before the sauce ever arrives. Pro tip: the crust should crackle when you shake the pan; if it sounds wet, the oil wasn’t hot enough.
Bloom the aromatics: Pour off the frying oil, wipe the pan, and heat the remaining 1 tbsp over medium. Add the garlic, ginger, bell pepper, and the sliced white parts of the scallions. Stir for 30–45 seconds, until the kitchen smells like a restaurant kitchen and the garlic has lost its raw bite. Medium heat roar is how garlic turns bitter.
Reduce the sauce to a glaze: Turn the heat to medium-high and pour in the sauce. Simmer, stirring, for 2–3 minutes until it thickens from soup to syrup glossy, coating a spoon, leaving a trail when you drag a spatula through it. This is the moment everything was building toward. Chicken tossed into a still-thin sauce steams inside its own jacket; the crust turns to wet cardboard while you wait for the liquid to cling. A properly reduced glaze clings thin and sets in seconds, wrapping each piece without cooking the crunch away. Give the sauce its two minutes.
Toss and finish: Add the fried chicken and toss for 30 seconds, no more, until every piece wears a shine. Kill the heat, stir in the sesame oil, and shower over the dark scallion greens and sesame seeds. The glaze should look painted on, not poured over. Serve immediately crispness is a limited-time offer.
