Ding-ding ring the dinner bell! Tonight we’re serving up Sticky Maple Sesame Chicken! An asian-inspired sesame chicken with an extra-crisp and crunchy coating, tossed in the most delicious sticky maple and sesame sauce. For the perfect meal serve this dish over warm jasmine rice with a sprinkle of scallions and black sesame seeds!
The nights that I’m home for dinner and not working at the restaurant, I go all out. Our favorite dinners to sit down to consist of a big pan of bite-sized chicken in some delectable sauce, a pot of warm jasmine rice or chow mein noodles, and some veg. This week I had my sights set on sesame chicken, and I was planning on making a recipe from the internet(true story! they all start like this!). However, although the sesame chicken sauces I found looked flavorful enough, the reviewers complained about two things:
- The food they made didn’t look like the picture.
- The chicken wasn’t as crispy as they had wanted.
Obviously these are huge problems when it comes to food blogging and….chicken. I believe a sticky chicken in a sauce can still, and should still, be crispy! As for the first complaint, it is often you’ll hear about people making a dish and wondering why it doesn’t look like the photo.
I decided to create a recipe for Sticky Sesame Chicken that would come out for you exactly as it does for me(insta photo worthy!), with crispy chicken pieces coated in a sauce so good you won’t want to eat anything else.
1-2-3
This is a 3-part recipe. First we’ve got the chicken in a marinade, then we dip the chicken pieces into a dry batter, and then add them to our sticky sauce. You can prepare all three things at the same time and then put your ingredients away, or work as you go!
The Marinade
My first tip for extra crispy chicken is adding vodka to the marinade. The alcohol will evaporate when frying and less moisture means more crisp! I like letting the chicken sit in the marinade while I prepare the sauce, but you can let it sit overnight in the fridge as well. Remember- the cornstarch and egg will tenderize the chicken as it marinates!
The Batter
For the lightest crispiest fried chicken, we will use both cornstarch and flour in the dry batter, as well as baking powder. The baking powder creates carbon dioxide. Little bubbles will form on the surface of the chicken and when placed in hot oil, break up the coating to give us a super light crunch.
TIP #2 FOR CRISP CHICKEN: Add some of the chicken marinade to the dry batter. (6 Tablespoons). Whisk it all together until the wet forms clumps in the batter. These little clumps will crisp up while frying and give you THE CRUNCH you are always looking for. These crunchy bits also stay crisp for extra long. No soggy chicken bites for us!
Maple Sesame Sticky Sauce
The sauce is so simple but SO GOOD. While there are more than 3 ingredients involved, the measurements are really easy and quick. We’ll use a 1:1 ratio of soy sauce to brown sugar, with maple syrup and sesame oil for all that bold flavor. White vinegar adds a bit of tang and ketchup and sweet chili sauce give us a base. Simply add everything to a frying pan- a big one because you’ll need to add all the chicken into it- and let it boil for 3 minutes until thick and sticky! Toss in the fried chicken and sesame seeds, and dinner is done!
I hope you guys love this Sticky Maple Sesame Chicken as much as we do!!! Keep the tips in mind and you’ll get the crunchiest fried chicken ever. Please share all those drool-worthy pics with us on Instagram! Happy cooking, loves.
Sticky Maple Sesame Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts(one package)
Chicken Marinade
- 2 Tbs mirin(japanese cooking wine) sub with white wine
- 2 Tbs vodka
- 2 Tbs soy sauce
- 1 M egg
- 1 1/2 Tbs cornstarch
Batter
- 1 cup cornstarch
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp chili pepper flakes
Maple Sesame Sauce
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/8 cup white vinegar
- 1/8 cup ketchup
- 1/8 cup sweet chili sauce
- 2 TBS water
- 1 TBS maple syrup
- 1 TBS sesame oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 TBS sesame seeds
Garnish
- 1/8 cup Green onions, sliced thin
- sprinkle of sesame seeds, white or black
Instructions
- Rinse chicken breasts and cut into bite-sized pieces OR thin bite-sized strips.
Marinade
- Combine mirin, vodka, soy sauce, and egg in a container and whisk. Add in cornstarch and chicken pieces and mix, making sure all the chicken is fully coated. Let marinate while you prepare the batter and sauce. **Start cooking your rice at this point so the whole dish is ready at the same time. I use jasmine rice.
Batter
- Whisk together cornstarch, flour, baking powder, and salt in a container. Take about 6 Tablespoons of the liquid chicken marinade and pour it into the dry batter. Whisk thoroughly. This will create little clumps in the batter which will crisp up during the fry and get us the crunchiest chicken.
- Heat up oil in a pan. Working a few at a time, add chicken pieces to the dry batter and coat them completely. Fry until golden and crispy, flip and fry the second side. Place in a paper bag or on paper towels to drain. Continue until all the chicken is fried.
Maple Sesame Sauce
- To a large pan with rimmed edges add- brown sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, ketchup, sweet chili sauce, water, maple syrup, sesame oil, and garlic. Bring the sauce to a boil and let it simmer for 3 minutes. Lower heat. Add in all the fried crispy chicken and a Tablespoon of sesame seeds. Mix well until all the chicken is coated in sticky sauce.
Serve
- Serve over jasmine rice. Sprinkle with sliced green onion and black/white sesame seeds. Enjoy!
- **You can reheat this for lunch- it will still be delicious, just the chicken not as crispy.
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