Sesame chicken
Crispy chicken bites shallow-fried in two quick batches and tossed in a sticky, sweet honey-soy sesame sauce. Better than takeout, on rice in 20 minutes.
- Prep
- 6 min
- Cook
- 14 min
- Serves
- 2
- Per serve
- 1180 kcal
Ingredients
Method
Beat the egg and salt in a bowl and toss the chicken through it. Add the 1/2 cup cornstarch and toss until every piece is evenly coated. In a measuring cup, whisk the soy sauce, honey, brown sugar, vinegar, sesame oil, 2 tsp cornstarch and water.
Pour the oil into a wok or 10-inch deep skillet: it should sit about 1/3 inch deep and fill the pan no more than a third. Heat over medium-high until a piece of chicken sizzles hard straight away (about 350°F), about 3 minutes. Stay close, and grate the garlic and slice the scallions while it heats.
Fry half the chicken, turning, until golden, crisp and cooked through with no pink inside. Lift onto paper towels.
Fry the second batch the same way, letting the oil reheat for a few seconds first. Meanwhile, heat the rice in the microwave according to the package.
Turn off the heat and carefully pour all but 1 tbsp of the oil into a heatproof bowl to cool. Set the pan over medium heat and stir the garlic for a few seconds until fragrant, then pour in the stirred sauce.
Let the sauce bubble, stirring, until thick, sticky and glossy.
Take off the heat, add the chicken and most of the sesame seeds and toss to coat. Serve over the rice, topped with the rest of the sesame seeds and the scallions.
Tips
- Toss the chicken in the sauce only at the last second so the coating stays crisp.
- Toast the sesame seeds in a dry pan for a minute first if yours are raw; the nutty flavor is the point.
- For gluten-free, use tamari instead of soy sauce. Cornstarch is naturally gluten-free.
