The sesame chicken is a classic of Asian cuisine, available in countless versions. Today I explain how to prepare it by stir-frying chicken bites in a pan. It’s a simple, quick, and tasty recipe great to enjoy with a portion of freshly cooked Basmati rice.
If you like chicken recipes, don’t forget to read
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Very Cheap
- Rest time: 2 Minutes
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 2
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons
- Energy 760.86 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 69.89 (g) of which sugars 12.77 (g)
- Proteins 33.14 (g)
- Fat 39.48 (g) of which saturated 7.10 (g)of which unsaturated 29.49 (g)
- Fibers 2.22 (g)
- Sodium 1,940.58 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 250 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for 2 people
- 1 chicken breast
- 1 egg
- 3 tablespoons peanut oil
- to taste salt
- to taste pepper
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 cup cups Basmati rice
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Tools
- 1 Pan 8-10 inches
- 1 Knife
- 1 Cutting board
- 1 Spoon
Steps
Even if the list of ingredients is long, the recipe for preparing sesame chicken is very simple, here are the steps to follow.
First, you need to focus on the chicken, I recommend taking 200 g (approximately 7 oz) of whole chicken breast and cutting it into bites measuring 0.8 inches x 1.2 inches.
Now that the chicken is in bites, you need to dip it in beaten egg and then coat it in cornstarch to bread it.
In a pan, add a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil and heat to high temperature, add the chicken bites and cook them thoroughly.
At the end of cooking, the chicken should be golden and cooked inside. The cooking time varies based on the size of the bites, but about 10 minutes should suffice.
At this point, it is time to focus on the sweet and sour sauce at the base of the sesame chicken!
In a pan (you can reuse the previous one if you like), add the soy sauce, water, sesame oil, sugar, rice vinegar, and cornstarch.
Heat the ingredients over high flame and when the sugar has dissolved, add the chicken you’ve cooked earlier.
Mix well so that the sauce completely covers the chicken, caramelizing it; the sauce is cooked when you obtain a fairly thick consistency (about 5 minutes).
Your sesame chicken is ready!
Plating Tips:
Serve the chicken with toasted sesame seeds and plenty of basmati rice. Serve in a deep bowl with Japanese chopsticks, for an aromatic touch you can place some scallion rings on the chicken and rice so that their aroma is released by the heat.
Wine Pairing for Sesame Chicken:
I would suggest sake, but I’m not very knowledgeable on the subject, so I opt for a cold-served Japanese beer.
