Kiss my wok

Be careful what you say to your kids.

One day Maddy and I were talking about what we should have for dinner when she suggested we go our for Chinese Food.  Not wanting to spend the money (and always looking for new blog material) I suggested we stay in and make dinner.  Maddy was against my home cooked plan and insisted that we have sesame chicken for dinner to which I replied "Why don't we make sesame chicken?".  For a brief moment after I said this it seemed as if time stood still. This was one of those moments in life where I say something and only after the words have come out of my mouth begin to digest the ramifications of what I'd said.  Did I really offer to make sesame chicken?  Will it taste at ALL like the one from the restaurant we go to?  If not will Maddy eat any?  Delivery is sounding great right about now.  So we set off home to find a good sesame chicken recipe and see what we could do.  What happened was that we combined two recipes we found [1] based on the ingredients we had on hand.   The final recipe we used was:

Flawless Sesame Chicken (Restaurant Style) Recipe

2 whole boneless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons raw sesame seeds
2 green onions (sliced)

Marinade-
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
1 tablespoon cooking wine or dry sherry
3 drops sesame oil
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vegetable oil

Batter-
½ cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg (beaten)
½ cup water (or as much as needed to make batter smooth)
3 tablespoons cornstarch
salt (to taste)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Sauce-
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons sugar
salt (to taste)
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon white distilled vinegar
a sprinkle of ground black pepper

Cooking Instructions:
 
Step 1: Cut chicken breasts into 1” chunks and in a glass bowl combine all of the marinade ingredients and mix well. Add the chicken and coat evenly. Cover and marinade for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

Step 2: Meanwhile, in separate bowl combine all of the batter ingredients and mix thoroughly. The batter should be thick enough to coat the chicken but thin enough to flow around the pieces. Set aside.

Step 3: Using a fork or tongs remove the pieces of chicken from the marinade and dip them into the batter to coat evenly (one by one). Deep fry the chicken in batches in your deep fryer for about 10 minutes or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. (or you can fry in hot oil at about 325 degrees in your wok for about 3-4 minutes or until golden brown)

Step 4: In your wok combine the sauce ingredients and warm over medium heat. Bring to a boil while stirring and simmer until sauce slightly thickens.

Step 5: In the wok or in a serving dish coat chicken with the sauce and garnish with sliced scallions and sesame seeds.


This recipe was both fun and easy to make.  It involves 3 steps - marinate, prep, fry.  Maddy helped me make the marinade and then pour it on the chicken.

While the chicken is marinading in the refrigerator make the batter that you will use to deep fry.

If you don't have a deep fryer [2] I suggest you use the tallest pot you have.  If you don't have an oil thermometer [3] stick a wooden spoon in the oil and see if it bubbles.  325 is not hot enough to make the oil smoke so if you see smoke turn the heat down.[4]

As you can see the finished product looked amazing.  Just like actual Chinese Food [5].


The consistency was perfect - crunchy but not overly so and tender on the inside.  The taste was good but not like the sesame chicken we are used to.



In the end it didnt taste like our local Chinese place and Maddy didnt like it.  I think if we make this again I'll try a different sauce - one recipe called for fruity wine (which we didn't have).  If you have made similar and can recommend a good sauce we're open to suggestions.[6]


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[1] Often a recipe for disaster - pun intended
[2] We both know you don't have a deep fryer
[3] You could go broke buying me all the kitchen gadgets on my list- I'm just saying
[4] Insert smoking joke here
[5] Which is nothing like food in China - its our Americanized version so it should be called Amerinese food
[6] Or you're welcome to bring over take out