Sesame Chicken

5 from 2 votes

This Chinese restaurant-inspired sesame chicken recipe is made with pieces of crispy battered chicken tossed in a deliciously sweet sesame sauce.

Prep Time30

Cook Time55

Total Time1 25

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American, Chinese

Keyword: Sesame Chicken Recipe

Servings:

Calories: 750kcal

Ingredients

Sauce

1½ tablespoons sesame oil
½ teaspoon garlic paste
½ teaspoon ginger paste
1½ tablespoons cornstarch
½ cup water
⅓ cup soy sauce, lite
½ cup rice vinegar
¾ cup light brown sugar
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, crushed

Chicken

3½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups buttermilk
4 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless, and diced into approximately 1-inch cubes)
vegetable or peanut oil, for frying

Topping (Optional)

1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
3 green onions, finely sliced
3 cups cooked white rice

Instructions

In a small saucepan, saute the ginger and garlic paste in sesame oil for 1 to 2 minutes or until fragrant.
Stir 1½ tablespoons of cornstarch into ½ cup of water.
Add the soy sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, cornstarch/water mixture, and red pepper flakes to the saucepan.
Simmer over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until the sauce thickens to a syrup consistency. This will take approximately 10 minutes.
Remove the sauce from the heat.
Fill a deep stockpot/Dutch oven or frying pan with 2 to 3 inches of oil.
Affix a food thermometer to the side of the pan and heat the oil to 350°F. This will take about 10 minutes to reach the desired temperature.
While the oil is heating, prepare the battered chicken. Whisk together the salt, pepper, and flour in a bowl. Then pour the buttermilk into a second bowl.
Working with just a few pieces of chicken at a time, dip each piece of chicken into the flour mixture to coat it. Then, dip it into the buttermilk. Finally, dip it back into the flour mixture and set it on a separate plate.
When the oil has reached 350°F, batch cook the chicken. Add 5 to 8 pieces of battered chicken to the hot oil at a time, frying for about 2 minutes and then flipping them over to cook on the other side for another 2 minutes.
When the chicken is uniformly golden brown, remove it from the oil, draining the excess oil back into the pan, and placing the fried chicken onto a few paper towels to absorb any additional oil.
Continue batch cooking the chicken, ensuring that the oil maintains a fairly constant temperature of 350°F.
When all of the chicken has finished cooking, transfer it to a large bowl.
Pour the sauce over the top and toss to coat evenly.
Serve over rice immediately then garnish with toasted sesame seeds and green onions, if desired.

Notes

Ensure that the oil maintains a temperature of 350°F. If you add too much chicken at once, it will cool the oil and the chicken will become greasy. If the oil becomes too hot, the outside of the chicken will burn.
Check that the sauce is still hot. If not, warm it on the stovetop for a few minutes before tossing it with the chicken.

Nutrition