Sesame Chicken
Crispy battered chicken, glossy sweet-sesame glaze and toasted seeds.
Maui's an app that plans a whole week of dinners like this one. See how it works ↓
The crispiness window is short - toss with the glaze RIGHT before serving, not a minute earlier. If you're plating for two people separately, sauce each plate individually instead of one big batch.
Ingredients
Everything below makes 4 servings.
- 1½ lbboneless skinless chicken thighscut into 1-inch pieces
- 2large eggsbeaten
- ½ cupcornstarch
- ¼ cupall-purpose flour
- ½ cupneutral oil (for frying)
- 3 tbspsoy sauce
- 3 tbsphoney
- 1 tbsprice vinegar
- 1 tbspketchup
- 1 tbsptoasted sesame oil
- 3garlic clovesminced
- 1 tspfresh gingergrated
- 1 tspcornstarch slurry (for glaze)whisked with 1 tbsp water
- 2 tbsptoasted sesame seeds
- 2scallionsthinly sliced (garnish)
- ½ tspkosher salt
In the app these rescale to however many people you're feeding.
Nutrition
Per serving, as written.
- 620calories
- 38gprotein
- 52gcarbs
- 28gfat
Swaps move these numbers. A different protein or base changes them.
Instructions
Knife work first, then the stove. Nothing below asks you to chop while something burns.
- Cut chicken into 1-inch pieces. Pat very dry - wet meat won't crisp.
- Beat 2 eggs in one shallow bowl. In a second bowl, whisk ½ cup cornstarch and ¼ cup flour and ½ tsp salt.
- Mince garlic, grate ginger. Slice scallions thin.
- Mix the cornstarch slurry: 1 tsp cornstarch and 1 tbsp water.
- Whisk together the glaze base: soy sauce and honey and rice vinegar and ketchup and sesame oil. Set aside.
Batter
Toss chicken pieces in the beaten egg, then dredge thoroughly in the cornstarch-flour mix, pressing to coat. Shake off excess. Set on a plate.
4 min · hands onFry
Heat neutral oil in the skillet over medium-high until it shimmers (about 350°F). Fry chicken in 2 batches, 3-4 min per batch, turning once, until deep golden and crisp. Transfer to a wire rack or paper-towel-lined plate.
8 min · hands onBuild glaze
Pour off all but 1 tsp oil from the skillet. Add garlic and ginger, cook 30 sec until fragrant. Pour in the glaze base and bring to a simmer. Whisk in the cornstarch slurry and cook 1 min until the sauce is glossy and coats a spoon.
2 min · hands onToss and serve
Off heat, add the fried chicken to the skillet and toss quickly to coat - work fast so the coating stays crisp. Scatter with toasted sesame seeds and scallions. Serve immediately over rice.
1 min · hands onMake it yours
Every swap here is one Maui already knows how to make, including what it does to the timing.
Cut breast into 1-inch pieces; fry 3 min instead of 4 - breast overcooks fast. Saves about 2 minutes.
Press tofu 15 min, cube, then batter and fry like the chicken. Adds about 5 minutes.
Steam broccoli florets 5 min while chicken fries; rice cooks alongside. Adds about 8 minutes.
Make a quick fried rice (egg and scallion and peas) in a second pan during fry. Adds about 15 minutes.
What keeps
Store the fried chicken and the sauce SEPARATELY - once they meet, the coating goes soft within an hour. Reheat chicken in a 400°F oven 6-8 min to recrisp, warm sauce in a pan, toss together right before serving.
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who plans your dinner.
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