Before you dial your local Chinese restaurant for your favorite comfort food, consider making this lighter Sesame Chicken at home. I made it today and Laurel begged me to post it here on our blog because it was that good.
We don't typically post recipes on the day we make them for the first time, but I'm making an exception for the holiday. We plan on coming up with a completely original version of sesame chicken, but in the meantime, if you want to try it, the following is a hybrid athlete food/Martha Steward version.
We started with this from Martha Stewart which we like because it doesn't involve having to buy an ingredient you'll never use again. You can make that one or continue reading for the Athlete Food twist.
--Bec
Here's What You'll Need
For the Sauce
3 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons sesame seeds (we increased the amount)
2.5 tablespoons gluten-free tamari (or soy sauce)
1 teaspoon Caribbean Green Seasoning**
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger**
juice from one small clementine**
**these are ingredients we added to the original recipe
For the Chicken
2 egg whites
1/4 corn starch
1/2 teaspoon Caribbean Green Seasoning**
4-5 grinds of black pepper
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1" square pieces
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Instructions
To make the sauce:
Combine all ingredients in a bowl.
To make the chicken: (Note: this part of the recipes is exactly Martha's, with the exception of the addition of the Green Seasoning for extra flavor. We followed the recipe exactly and it got a little weird for us, especially when we had to transfer the egg/chicken mixture to the pan. Everything turned out ok in the end, but next time we'll change the cooking method to avoid some of the cornstarch/egg weirdness.)
Whisk together eggs and cornstarch. Add chicken and Green Seasoning and mix until coated.
"In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high. Add half the chicken; cook, turning occasionally, until golden and opaque throughout, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate; repeat with remaining tablespoon oil and chicken. Return all the chicken to skillet;"
To Finish: (This is different than the original recipe)
Add the sauce to the pan and cook over medium heat until everything is hot. If sauce seems to thin (which it did for us), mix one teaspoon of cornstarch with 2 teaspoons water, and add it to the pan. Continue cooking until sauce thickens.
Serve with rice and garnish with fresh scallions.