Sesame Chicken

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This sesame chicken recipe is saucy, crispy, and the PERFECT addition to a bowl of steamed white rice! It’s a dinner recipe your family is sure to love!

Sesame chicken has always been and will always be one of the most classic Asian foods in America.  Express to P.F. Chang’s to a little mom and pops restaurant everyone’s had some version of sesame chicken. Crispy, saucy, and the perfect addition to a bowl of steamed white rice.

When I was about nine years old my best friend introduced me to the best sesame chicken of my life!  an amazing restaurant in North Austin called Asia Café. Their Asian cuisine was honestly incredible! My go-to food was your sesame chicken. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to have it recently because of the rona but, no worries!

Once again, I tried to recreate a restaurant classic!  And let me tell you, it was a raging success!!  

Key To Wonderful Chicken

I feel like marinades are often overlooked and drawn out to be more difficult than they really are. For this chicken I just diced it into cubes, I added some seasonings, insect in the fridge for about an hour. That’s it! The marinade really boosts the flavor of my chicken and keeps it interesting!

The breading is a bit special in this recipe.  First I tried simply using flour as a breading. The impact was OK but not as good as I wanted it to be. The next time, I used cornstarch and I loved the results. The texture and overall crisp level was much better!

To keep the cornstarch from clumping up into one big ball sprinkle half of it onto the marinated chicken, mix, then sprinkle on the other half, and mix again.  This way, it will be evenly distributed across all the chicken cubes.

If you’re not a fan of cornstarch you can also use potato starch.*

Lastly and most important is the sauce!  I feel that the more sauce is, the better!  In this recipe we make enough sauce to cook the chicken and drizzle some on top of your rice. This way your white rice isn’t boring. 😉

But, I get the best sauce results when I let it simmer for a little while. The goal here is to thicken up the sauce a little bit so, turn the heat up to medium and stir the sauce occasionally until it has reached your preferred thicknesses.  (This may take some time but don’t be too worried it will get there.)  

Sesame Chicken Recipe

AuthorbasilanddillDifficultyBeginner

Yields4 Servings
Prep Time1 hr 10 minsCook Time20 minsTotal Time1 hr 30 mins

Chicken
 2 lbs chicken breast (diced)
 3 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
 3 tbsp soy sauce
 ¾ tsp salt
 pinch of baking soda
 2 egg whites
 1 cup cornstarch
 1 cup neutral oil
Sauce
 2 tbsp honey
 3 tbsp brown sugar
 2.50 tbsp soy sauce
 3 tbsp water
 2.50 tbsp ketchup
 1 tbsp rice vinegar
 1 tbsp sesame oil
 1.50 tbsp sesame seeds

1

In a medium bowl, combine your chicken, garlic, soy sauce, salt, baing soda, and egg whites into a bowl and mix. Let that chill in the frige for 1 hour.

2

Sprinkle half a cup of cornstarch on the chicken cubes and mix around. Add the second half of cornstarch nad mix again until all the cubes are covered.

3

In a deep pan, pour a cup of oil. Turn the heat up to medium high and put half of your chicken cubes into the heated pan. (Be sure to lay them flat.) Cook the chicken on one side until it's golden brown then flip. Cook the second half until golden brown then pull it out onto a paper towel or strainer to let the oil drain out.

4

While the chicken is cooking, whisk together all the sauce ingredients and put them it into a pot. Turn the heat up to medium-high and let it simmer for about 15 minutes or until your prefered thickness.

5

Combine the chicken and sauce in the sauce pot and mix until all the chicken bits are covered. Put it into a bowl with steamed white rice and enjoy! <3

Ingredients

Chicken
 2 lbs chicken breast (diced)
 3 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
 3 tbsp soy sauce
 ¾ tsp salt
 pinch of baking soda
 2 egg whites
 1 cup cornstarch
 1 cup neutral oil
Sauce
 2 tbsp honey
 3 tbsp brown sugar
 2.50 tbsp soy sauce
 3 tbsp water
 2.50 tbsp ketchup
 1 tbsp rice vinegar
 1 tbsp sesame oil
 1.50 tbsp sesame seeds

Directions

1

In a medium bowl, combine your chicken, garlic, soy sauce, salt, baing soda, and egg whites into a bowl and mix. Let that chill in the frige for 1 hour.

2

Sprinkle half a cup of cornstarch on the chicken cubes and mix around. Add the second half of cornstarch nad mix again until all the cubes are covered.

3

In a deep pan, pour a cup of oil. Turn the heat up to medium high and put half of your chicken cubes into the heated pan. (Be sure to lay them flat.) Cook the chicken on one side until it's golden brown then flip. Cook the second half until golden brown then pull it out onto a paper towel or strainer to let the oil drain out.

4

While the chicken is cooking, whisk together all the sauce ingredients and put them it into a pot. Turn the heat up to medium-high and let it simmer for about 15 minutes or until your prefered thickness.

5

Combine the chicken and sauce in the sauce pot and mix until all the chicken bits are covered. Put it into a bowl with steamed white rice and enjoy! <3

Notes

Sesame Chicken