Meals · Stir-fries & fried rice
Classic sesame chicken
The American-Chinese takeaway classic as it comes in the box: chunks of chicken thigh in a crunchy batter, deep-fried and tossed in a sweet, sticky soy and brown-sugar sauce, showered with sesame seeds and served over white rice with a few florets of broccoli.
Want a more filling version?Air-fryer sesame chicken 62- Time
- 45 min (20 prep + 25 cook)
- Servings
- 4
- Per serving
- 814 kcal
- Protein
- 37 g
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 1/3 lb chicken thigh, cut in 2.5 cm (1-inch) chunks
Batter
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 egg
- 6 tbsp water, ice-cold
- about 7 tbsp absorbed canola oil, from a pot of oil for deep-frying
Sauce
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 tsp ginger, grated
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 4 tsp toasted sesame seeds
To serve
- 2 1/4 cups cooked white rice
- 1 1/2 cups florets broccoli
- 2 green onions, sliced
Steps
- Whisk the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, egg and ice-cold water into a smooth batter the thickness of heavy cream. Add the chicken and stir until every piece is coated.
- Heat 2 inch of oil in a heavy pot to 350°F. Fry the chicken in batches, lifting the pieces in one at a time so they do not clump, for 5–6 minutes until deep golden and 165°F inside. Drain on a rack.
- In a wok or large pan, stir the soy sauce, brown sugar, honey, hoisin, rice vinegar, garlic, ginger, cornstarch and water over medium heat until it boils into a thick, shiny syrup, 2–3 minutes.
- Take the pan off the heat, stir in the sesame oil, add the fried chicken and toss until coated. Scatter over the sesame seeds.
- Steam the broccoli for 4 minutes and serve the chicken over the rice with the broccoli and green onions.
Good to know
Why is the batter ice-cold?
Cold batter hits hot oil and sets fast into a light, crackly shell. A warm batter soaks up more oil and comes out heavy.
Can I fry it twice?
Yes, like many takeaways: fry until pale, rest 5 minutes, then fry again for a minute at 375°F. The crust stays crisp longer in the sauce.
Alternative
Per
- Calories
- 209
- Protein
- (18%)
- 9 g
- Fat
- (44%)
- 10 g
- Carbohydrates
- (37%)
- 20 g
- of which sugar
- 5 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 360 mg
More meals
Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 3256 kcal goes into the pot and 1821 g of ingredients comes out as about 1560 g of food: 209 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.