BETTER THAN TAKEOUT – Sesame Chicken
To be honest, the first time I ate this I was thinking, no, Chinese people do not eat sesame chicken. And now, I make it every week. Seriously, who can say no to these crunchy nutty little bites of chicken? And this recipe could be the best sesame chicken you ever had.
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?RECIPE – Note: Here I want to correct a mistake in the video. At 03:16 I said to heat up the oil to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. It was an audio mistake, please keep the oil temperature at 380 degrees Fahrenheit while frying. I am really sorry about that. The video is already uploaded, I can’t edit it anymore.
Ingredients to marinate the chicken (Serve 2-3 people with some white rice)
– 1 lb chicken thigh, cut into 1.5 inches cubes
– 2 cloves of garlic
– black pepper to taste
– 1.5 tsp of soy sauce [Amazon Link: https://amzn.to/2L72ISh]
– 1/2 tsp of salt
– 3/8 tsp of baking soda
– 1 egg white
– 0.5 tbsp of starch (add it to the marinade)
– 1 cup of Potato starch (use it to coat the chicken)
– 2 cups of oil to fry the chicken
Ingredients for the sauce
– 2 tbsp of Honey
– 3 tbsp of brown sugar
– 2.5 tbsp of Soy sauce [Amazon Link: https://amzn.to/2L72ISh]
– 3 tbsp of water
– 2.5 tbsp of ketchup
– 1 tbsp of vinegar
– Sweet potato starch water to thicken the sauce (2 tsp of potato starch mixed with 2 tsp of water) (Amazon Link: https://amzn.to/2SoBbiG)
– 1 tbsp of sesame oil [Amazon Link: https://amzn.to/2SCg1OT]
– 1.5 tbsp of toasted sesame seeds [Amazon Link: https://amzn.to/2A6wsfV]
– Diced scallion as a garnish
INSTRUCTION
– Cut some boneless and skin on chicken leg into 1-inch size pieces. I prefer dark meat when making fried chicken. It gives you a juicer and tender result. And yes, you can use chicken breast if you wish to.
– Marinate the chicken with 1 tsp of grated garlic, 1.5 tsp of soy sauce, 1/2 tsp of salt, some black pepper to taste, 3/8 tsp of baking soda, 1 egg white, and 1/2 tbsp of starch. Cornstarch, potato or sweet potato starch, they all work, depends on what you used for the coating later. Mix everything until well combined. Cover it and let it sit for 40 minutes.
– While waiting, let’s prepare the coating. I found out that using sweet potato starch makes the crispiest sesame chicken. You can also use potato starch or cornstarch. They will give you a similar result.
– Get a spread bottle and gently spread a tiny bit of water into the starch a few times. Some of the starch will clump up and create some mini balls. You just wait for 10 seconds to let it set and use the whisk to stir it. Then spread more water, wait for 10 seconds, and stir it again. Do this 3 times in total. Maybe some of you never heard this method before. Give it a try, you will be surprised.
– Add half of the starch into a big container. Spread it out. Add in the chicken. Try to separate them piece by piece. Cover the meat with the other half of the starch. Put on the lid and shake for a few minutes. Pick out the meat and shake off all the excess flour.
– Heat up the oil to 380 F. Add in the chicken piece by piece so they don’t stick together. Don’t crow the pan because it overflows easily. The temperature is hight. In less than 2 minutes, you can feel that the surface is getting crispy and the color is slightly yellow. Take them out. Then we gonna do the second batch. Before that, you might want to fish out all those small little bits. It is optional but it does affect the quality of the oil.
– Keep the temperature at 380 F, and fry the second batch of the chicken. Once you are done, let all the chicken rest for about 15 minutes and we gonna double fry the chicken. Double frying will stabilize the crunchiness so it lasts longer. You just keep an eye on the color. In about 2 or 3 minutes, it will reach that beautiful golden color. Take them out and set it aside.
– Next, make the sauce. In a large bowl, add in 3 tbsp of brown sugar, 2 tbsp of liquid honey, 2.5 tbsp of soy sauce, 2.5 tbsp of ketchup, 3 tbsp of water, 1 tbsp of vinegar. Mix them well.
– 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. Keep stirring until it reaches a thin syrup texture. Add the chicken back into the wok, along with 1 tbsp of sesame oil, 1.5 tbsp of a toasted sesame seed, garnish with diced scallions.
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