My Sesame Chicken

 This dish has really turned into a “go-to” dish for me when the kids need feeding at a weekend, or part of several dishes in a banquet when entertaining.  It is very simple to prepare despite what looks a long list of ingredients and everyone that tries it seems to love it! The marinading can be started done for a long or little as like, but personally think in needs a good 6-8hours so I normally do last thing the night before I am making. Doing this early, as well as helping the flavour, also means the final cooking and presentation is a simple task

I had always wanted to make Sesame Chicken as a dish I like when eaten in Manchester Chinatown, and when first looked for recipes I found there are many, many different takes. It really is a dish of taste and your personal balance between sweetness, sourness and spice. It took me a few attempts to get to the below combinations, however you may wish to amend them if not to your tastes. Most recipes I looked at had more sugar in (believe it or not!) but up it if feel needs it or up the vinegar or chilli flakes also according to what your taste buds are tuned to! Really is the beauty of the sauce for this in that you can “tweak” as necessary.

Ingredients – Serves 3-4 as main, or more as part of a banquet

3 x Chicken Breasts – cut into approx. 1- 1½“cubes

Sesame Seeds (optional) – preferably lightly toasted for decoration

Vegetable Oil for Deep Frying

Marinade

1 x tbsp. Light Soy Sauce

1 x tbsp. Dark Soy Sauce

1 x tbsp. Chinkiang Vinegar – I have used Sherry or Rice Wine Vinegar as substitute on occasions

1 x tsp. Vegetable Oil

2 x tbsp. water

½ tsp Sesame Oil

2 x tbsp. Plain Flour

2 x tbsp. Corn Flour

¼ tsp. Baking Powder

¼ tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

 Sauce

140ml Water

280ml Chicken Stock

170g Castor Sugar

140ml Rice Vinegar – I have tried/used other but find Rice Vinegar the best

30g Cornflour

2 x tbsp. Dark Soy Sauce

2 x tbsp. Sesame Oil

1 Garlic Clove (crushed)

1½  tsp Chilli flakes – this is the right amount for me when I make it, but you may want more/less depending on your taste!

Method

The chicken requires marinading first – as above only really needs a couple of hours but more is better up to about 8 hours so I usually do this the night before I am making it.

Simply mix together in a bowl the marinade ingredients above until a well combined sauce like consistency. Then add the chicken cubes and stir well ensuring they are fully coated. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and pop in the fridge if leaving overnight. You can stir occasionally to ensure all coated well, but that is not necessary. Just make sure you remove the chicken from the fridge a good hour or two before the next stage to ensure returns to room temperature before cooking.

 I tend to make the sauce first. Again this is straightforward in adding all the ingredients into a saucepan and gently heating whilst stirring with a wooden spoon to dissolve the sugar and flours into the liquid. If starts to be a little lumpy then either persevere with stirring or use a balloon whisk to remove any lumps – I have never had an issue with this sauce as long as you take your time and heat gently. The sauce will thicken and go a darker colour – you are looking for a thick sauce that will stick to and coat the chicken. This sauce can be made in advance and re-heated though may need a little more stock or water to thin it out as tends to be too thick if left – it should still be a sauce after all.

Now heat the oil in order to cook the chicken. I put the oven on a low heat also (approx. 120-150 deg Celsius) to keep the cooked batches warm and put a plate in the oven to store the chicken on. Use a deep fryer if you have one, or large saucepan, or as I do a wok. Heat a generous amount of vegetable oil to enable the chicken to be deep fried. Then fry the marinated chicken in batches until cooked through. It is imperative you control the heat of the oil, from a safety point of view, but also to ensure the chicken is properly cooked – if you get it too hot the outside marinade will burn and the chicken is raw in the middle. I tend to cook in batches of about 8 pieces, turning regularly and checking at least one piece a batch to ensure cooked through. They should be golden from the cooked marinade on the outside, and cooked all the way through. Drain on kitchen paper to remove excess oil and then keep the chicken warm in the oven until all the chicken is cooked.

And that’s it… all that remains is to serve the dish.

 Either place the chicken in a serving bowl and pour the sauce over, or put the chicken in the pan with the sauce as I do as I prefer the chicken completely covered in the sauce and then serve in serving dish. If you want you can add sesame seeds (preferably lightly toasted in a dry frying pan) for extra presentation – but it is not necessary.

 The Finished Dish

 Here the dish is served simply with boiled rice, but noodles are just as good!