Sesame Chicken

I don't know about you but I love chinese food or rather asian food in general. Next to pasta, it is my go to meal when I want something quick and flavorful. I also love to eat it out at a restaurant. But not that nasty, greasy fast food chinese. Yuck. While I know they are not technically chinese (I believe they are 'asian fusion'), Pei Wei and PF Changs are two of my favorite places to eat any type of asian.

Of course, they are usually a little more expensive than those places serving MSG laden dishes. That's okay for a once in a while eating out experience but not so good for the everyday meal. Plus, I can control what goes in and the relative "healthiness" overall. While I love a good crunchy honey seared chicken, the deep fried chicken is not the healthiest of options (so says the girl who just ate deep fried bacon and deep fried butter at the state fair).

Sesame chicken is not normally my main pick when eating chinese but when I saw this recipe at Everyday Food, I thought it looked pretty tasty and not that bad for you. Instead of the deep fried chicken, you saute chicken in oil lightly. The sauce is less sweet than normal sesame chicken sauce as well.

I made two little additions to the recipe (in red below). I added in about a teaspoon of oyster sauce and 1/2 tsp of sriracha. The sriracha was added to give the sauce a little heat and to help cut the sweetness a tiny bit. I have been a fan of oyster sauce since I added it to my bowl at a Mongolian BBQ place a few years ago.

I loved, loved, loved this! I was expecting it to be pretty good. A nice substitute from a restaurant dish but I was completely blown away how delicious it was. Simple but full of a lot of flavor. The sauce was perfect with the two additions I made. The sriracha gave a nice bit of heat but didn't overwhelm the rest of the flavors. I served this with a nice basmati that complimented the rest of the dish quite well.

This will definitely go on my make again list. It was completed fairly quickly and gave me enough leftover to take to work for lunch. That's always a plus in my book!

Sesame Chicken

Adapted from Everyday Food

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup brown rice (I used basmati. I think this amount is per serving.)

3 tablespoons honey (less if you don't like it too sweet)

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons oyster sauce

1/2 tsp sriracha (or less to taste)

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

2 large egg whites

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken

breast halves, cut into 2-inch chunks

Coarse salt and ground pepper

2 tablespoons vegetable oil, such as

safflower

1 1/2 pounds broccoli, cut into large

florets, stems peeled and thinly sliced

DIRECTIONS

1. Place a steamer basket in a large saucepan, and fill with 1 inch water; set aside for broccoli. Cook rice according to package instructions.

2. Meanwhile, make sauce: In a small bowl, combine honey, sesame seeds, soy sauce, and garlic; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together egg whites and cornstarch. Add chicken; season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat.

3. 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; add reserved sauce and scallions, and toss to coat.

4. Meanwhile, place saucepan with steamer basket over high heat; bring water to a boil. Add broccoli, and cook until crisp-tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Serve sesame chicken with brown rice.