Sesame Chicken

When Rick told me that he had taken out some chicken to thaw and was craving some Chinese food, I suggested that we try to make sesame chicken.  I've never done it before, but a quick search of the internet found this recipe from recipezaar.com.  There are actually quite a few version of it on various sites on the internet, but I opted to use it as my base recipe.  I served it with fried rice and steamed broccoli.  Admittedly, I'm not a huge broccoli fan, but Rick keeps going on and on about how it is a super-food.  How can I win against that? ;)  

Our meal turned out pretty good,  and I think that our version is probably a wee-bit better for you than what you get from your average Chinese restaurant.  Rick didn't deep fry the chicken, but did it in about an inch of peanut oil and turned them. I don't know that the marinade added all that much to it, and next time, I may marinate it longer.  It smelled great, though!

Here's the recipe!

Sesame Chicken

Ingredients

3 boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1-2 inch cubes

Peanut oil for frying

Toasted Sesame Seeds

Marinade

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon cooking 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 

Sauce

• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup low sodium chicken broth
• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon garlic-chili sauce
• 1 large clove garlic, minced

Directions

Mix all of the ingredients for the marinade together, and marinade the chicken for around 30 minutes.

While the chicken is marinating, mix together all of the sauce ingredients. Pour them into a small pot and bring to a boil, stirring continuously. Turn the heat down to low and keep warm while you are deep-frying the chicken.

Add enough peanut oil to a cast iron or heavy skillet to have the oil be 1 inch thick.  Heat the oil over medium-high heat, and when it is heated, add the marinated chicken pieces enough to cover the majority of the skillet.  Fry until golden brown. Drain on paper towels . Repeat with the remainder of the chicken. Just before you are finished frying, bring the sauce back up to a boil.

Place the chicken on a large platter and pour the sauce over. Sprinkle with sesame seeds

Enjoy!

While the Rick's away, the mushrooms will play!

Well, sort of anyway!!!

As I've lamented here before, Rick is not a fan of mushrooms, and since he is out of town this weekend, I decided that my meal tonight would include mushrooms. For some reason, I was craving Korean Beef. Maybe it was the fact that I was in West Ashley yesterday but wasn't there around dinner time so that I could swing by Red Orchid. Ever since Rick and I went there with Nick and his girlfriend, Haley, I have occasional longings for their Korean Beef. Unfortunately for me, that is quite a drive for food so I've been trying my best to duplicate their dish! This version is somewhat similar to bulgogi. Honestly, I pretty much just use it for the sauce/marinade.

Tonight, I had to do something that I've never done before: I had to toast sesame seeds. Unfortunately for me, Publix does not sell toasted ones. It was actually pretty simple to do. I just preheated my oven to 325F, put them in a small cast iron skillet, and toasted them until they were a golden brown. The total time was around 18 minutes. In the picture of the meal that I posted, I think I got a little bit carried away with them, though!

Of course, I had to tinker with the sauce a bit. On its own, it is a wee-bit salty (even when I use low sodium soy sauce). To cut that a bit, I added 2 tablespoons of Mirin (which can be purchased at the grocery store near the soy sauce). Since I didn't have any fresh ginger, I used ground (and 1/4 tsp = 1 tsp fresh). I also doubled the amount of garlic.

In order to save some time, I purchased a little over a pound of pre-sliced, stir-fry beef and marinated that for around 30 minutes or so while the rice cooked. I doubled the marinade so that I could also marinate one chopped green pepper, 1/2 of a sweet onion (also chopped) and 4 oz of sliced mushrooms. I actually halved the marinade and marinated the veggies and the meat separate. I like doing the veggies instead of bothering with the lettuce boats. Use whatever vegetables you'd like!

I stir-fried the veggies in my wok and then added the beef. They would've been good on the grill, but it was damp out after the evening rain. Before serving it, I made another batch of my doctored marinade to serve over the food when I plated it. Delicious!!!


Here is the original recipe:

Korean-Styled Grilled Flank Steak

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar (not seasoned)
• 1 tablespoon grated peeled ginger
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 teaspoons Sriracha (Southeast Asian chile sauce)
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Asian sesame oil
• 1 to 1 1/4 pound flank steak
• 2 scallions, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

• Accompaniments: white rice; soft leaf lettuce

Directions

Stir together soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, garlic, Sriracha, sugar, and sesame oil.

Prepare a gas grill for direct-heat cooking over medium-high heat.

Oil grill rack, then grill steak, covered, turning over once, 6 to 8 minutes for medium-rare.

Transfer steak to a cutting board and drizzle with 2 tablespoons sauce, then let stand, uncovered, 5 minutes. Thinly slice steak across the grain. Serve with remaining sauce, scallions, and sesame seeds.

Changes that I made to the marinade

• added 2 tablespoons of Mirin
  
• used low sodium soy sauce
• used two cloves of garlic
• substituted ground ginger for fresh
• doubled it in order to use with vegetables

Other changes:

• Stir-fried 1/2 onion, green pepper (both chopped), and 4 oz of sliced mushrooms
• Also stir-fried meat due to weather
• Used stir-fry meat instead of flank steak
• Made another batch of the sauce/marinade to put over meat

Recipe for toasted sesame seeds:
Preheat oven to 325F.

Place untoasted sesame seeds in a small cast iron skillet, and toasted them in the oven until they were a golden brown. The total time was around 15-20 minutes.