So I have been cooking for years now and have always loved trying new recipes! Before Covid hit I always would order takeout at least three times a week! My favorite takeout food of choice was always Chinese food, specifically sesame chicken and white rice! Once Covid hit and funds started getting low, I decided I still wanted my chicken but I cant afford to eat out anymore. Thus the research and trial and error began!
Okay, enough rambling! lets get to the good stuff! Also here's a video of me doing this recipe for anyone who is a visual learner like myself!
INGREDIENTS
INSTRUCTIONS-
- Cut some boneless and skin on chicken leg into 1-inch size pieces.
- 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.
- 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.
- Fluff the starch a little. Get a spread bottle. Gently spread a tiny bit of water into the starch 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.
- Dump 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 or High on tradition stoves. Add in the chicken piece by piece so they don’t stick together. Don’t crow the pan because it overflows easily. Do it in batches if you need to. Safety is the most important. The temperature is right. 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.
Hope you all enjoy! and shoutout to my local Chinese spot and multiple youtube channels, "souped up kitchen" specifically for the water in starch idea, for the help in creating this dish!