This crispy sesame chicken recipe is one of my favorite chicken recipes; it is very easy to make, and it goes well with boiled white rice. Sesame chicken is a very popular dish at Chinese restaurants in the US, making it at home is by far better than your popular restaurant takeout. It is delicious, sticky, crispy, slightly sweet and you will definitely want to try this out in the comfort of your home.
If you love this easy orange chicken recipe that I made some time ago, you will definitely love this sesame chicken because they both have almost similar ingredients such as honey, sugar, and sesame seeds, etc.
I love to recreate some of my favorite Chinese takeouts at home and this sesame chicken is one of those. Do you love restaurant food like me? be sure to include this sesame chicken in your weekly menu; the recipe calls for boneless chicken, honey, sesame seeds, and few other ingredients that you probably have at home.
It really takes nothing to prepare a delicious sesame chicken; you only need to debone your chicken thigh and cut into bite sizes, coat them in egg and flour batter, and deep fry and finally toast the pieces in a gravy sauce made from cornstarch, sugar, vinegar, honey, and sesame oil. The final result is usually garnished with a few sesame seeds.
You can also watch the video on Youtube here:
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Few Tips to consider
- This recipe calls for chicken thighs, but you can use chicken breasts and will still end up with the same result.
- To achieve a crispy outer crust you will have to fry your chicken pieces in a few inches of oil. You can control the temperature of the oil so that it is not overly hot and not so cool for the chicken pieces.
- A healthier version of this recipe can be made too; all you need to do is to omit the coating of the chicken in egg and flour mixture, then season and bake the pieces before coating in the sauce.
Sesame Chicken Ingredients
- 300 g boneless chicken thigh, cut into pieces
- ½ teaspoon of onion powder
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 1 egg
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 3 tablespoon of corn starch
- ½ cup of vegetable oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
For the sesame chicken sauce you will need:
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon corn starch to thicken the sauce
- 2 tablespoons tomato sauce or ketchup
- 1 and 1/2 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons white or brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons spring onion, chopped
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds for garnish
How to make sesame chicken
- Bring in your boneless chicken pieces into a medium bowl and season with onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, black pepper, salt.
- Mix with a spoon to combine, add one lightly beaten egg, and mix. Rest the chicken for 30 minutes to absorb all the seasonings.
- After 30 minutes, add 3 tablespoons of corn starch and mix to coat. Place a pan on the stovetop, add in oil, once it is heated, transfer the coated chicken into the oil and fry.
- This will take about 6 to 8 minutes for the chicken to be lightly golden on both sides.
- Transfer the chicken pieces out of the oil once they are golden and crispy to a dish and set aside.
- Place a wok on the stovetop, add 2 tablespoons of sesame oil or any other oil, add minced garlic and saute for 1 minute or until fragrant.
- Add rice vinegar, ketchup, sweet chili, soy sauce, sugar, honey, and sesame oil. Stir to combine and cook on medium heat for about 3 minutes until it thickens up.
- Dissolve 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 3 tablespoons of water and add to the sauce and stir to incorporate nicely.
- Garnish with tablespoons of chopped spring onion, 2 tablespoons of sesame seeds and return the fried chicken into the sauce and stir to coat with the sauce. Cook for 2 minutes on low heat.
- Turn off the heat once you are happy with the taste and consistency of your sesame chicken.
- Serve with some boiled rice and garnish with more sesame seeds and spring onion. Bon Appetite.