Sesame Chicken
This sweet and pungent stir-fried crunchy chicken has a secret technique for what keeps Chinese food so crisp even when smothered in delicious sauce. Served over fried rice (see recipe) this is always a crowd pleaser and my personal favorite.
Sesame Chicken
Equipment
- wok preferable
- or frying pan
Ingredients
Marinade
- 4 skinless, boneless chicken thighs - cut into 1½ cubes
- 2 cloves garlic - minced
- black pepper to taste
- 1½ teaspoon soy sauce
- ⅜ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 egg white
- ½ teaspoon starch - preferably potato but corn starch works
- 1 cup starch - to coat the chicken
Sauce
- 2 teaspoon honey
- 3 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2½ teaspoon soy sauce
- 3 teaspoon water
- 2½ tablespoon ketchup
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar - any vinegar works
- 2 tablespoon starch - mixed with with 2 teaspoon of water to thicken the sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1½ tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
- Diced scallion to garnish
For Frying
- 42 fl oz high-heat oil like canola oil, sunflower oil or peanut oil - for deep frying. You can use less, but there should be at least a couple of inches of oil the wok or pot.
Instructions
Marinate
- Mix the marinade ingredients, add the chicken cubes and mix everything until well combined. Cover it and let it sit for 40 minutes.
Coating Method
- Put the cup of starch in a bowl and fluff a little with a whisk. Get a spray bottle and gently spray a tiny bit of water into the starch few times. Some of the starch will clump up and create some mini little balls. Wait 10 seconds to let it set and use the whisk to stir, again. Do this 4 times in total. The little lumps will give the chicken extra crunch.
- Put half of the starch into a Tupperware style container. Add the chicken piece by piece separating them so they don't stick together. Cover them with the other half of the starch. Put the lid on and shake for a minute, until all the chicken pieces are thoroughly coated evenly. Remove the pieces of chicken shake off all the excess starch.
- Remove the pieces of chicken shake off all the excess starch.
- Heat the oil to 380°. [To deep fry properly use a high temperature thermometer] (see note). Gently place the chicken, piece by piece into the hot oil so they don’t stick together and you don't splash the very hot oil on yourself. BE CAREFUL. I use a frying utensil to submerge multiple chicken pieces and stay safe. (see note). Do it in batches, don't crowd, because the oil can overflow easily. Safety is the most important thing. In less than 2 minutes, the surface will be getting crispy and the color, slightly yellow. Remove from the oil, I use the same utensil (see note). Keeping the temperature at 380 F, fry the second batch. When they are crunchy and just a light yellow remove and let all the chicken rest for about 15 minutes and then we will fry the chicken a second time. Keep an eye on the color, take them out in about 2 to 3 minutes when they reach a beautiful golden brown and before they burn. Take them out and set it aside. Double frying will stabilize the crunchiness so it last longer.
- Next, make the sauce. In a large bowl mix the first six ingredients until well combined. Pour into a hot wok or heat in a pot. If some sugar is left in the bowl scrape it in with a spatula. Continually stir over medium heat until it begins to boil and then pour in the starch/water mixture to thicken the sauce. Keep stirring until it reaches a thin syrup texture, then introduce the crispy chicken piece with a drizzle of sesame oil and 1.5 tablespoon of a toasted sesame seed and toss
- Put your wok on the stove and pour all the sauce in. There is some sugar sink in the bottom of the bowl, make sure you clean that. Keep stirring the sauce on medium heat. Bring it to a boil and pour in some potato starch water to thicken the sauce. This just 2 teaspoon of potato starch mixed with 2 teaspoon of water. Keep stirring until it reaches a thin syrup texture. Introduce the chicken back into the wok or pot along with a drizzle of sesame oil and 1.5 tablespoon of a toasted sesame seed. Toss everything until the chicken is thoroughly coated and take them out and garnish it with some angle cross-cut scallion and divide into bowls of fried rice (see recipe).
Notes
I like this one that can clip on the side of the pot or held in the wok oil, but there are a large array of great digital thermometers.
These are the fry baskets I use with my woks:
These are standard wok stir-fry utensils:
These are the fry baskets I use with my woks:
These are standard wok stir-fry utensils:
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