Author: Wally

Chicken & Marinade

• 1½ lb. (700g) Chicken Thighs
• 2 Tablespoons Shaoxing Wine
• 1 Tablespoon Mijiu Wine
• 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
• 1/2 Teaspoon White Pepper
• 1 Egg White Large Egg
• 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
• 4 Tablespoons Potato Starch

(set aside 6 tablespoons marinade)

Dry Batter

• 1 Cup Cornstarch
• 1/2 Cup All Purpose Flour
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda

Sesame Chicken Sauce

• 1 Cup Chicken Broth
• 1 Tablespoon Dark Soy Sauce
• 1 Tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
• 2 Tablespoons Oyster Sauce
• 1 Tablespoon Chinese Black Vinegar (can sub with white vinegar)
• 2 Tablespoons Sesame Oil (best quality you can get)
• 1 Tablespoon Tomato Ketchup
• 1 Teaspoon MSG 1/2 Teaspoon White Pepper
• 2 Teaspoons Potato Starch
• 2 Teaspoons Honey
• 1/4 Cup Light Brown Sugar

Aromatics

• 3 Garlic Cloves Minced
• 2 Teaspoon Freshly Grated Giner
• Spring Onions
• 2 Tablespoons Toasted Sesame Seeds

Cooking Instructions

1. Cut chicken thighs into 1 inch and set aside.
2. Combine Shaoxing wine, Mijiu, soy sauce, white pepper and egg white. Whisk until frothy in a bowl large enough to marinade chicken thighs. Reserve 6 tablespoons marinade for later use.
3. Add rest of marinade to chicken thighs and mix for about 30 seconds. Add baking soda, mix for another 30 seconds. Add potato starch and mix for 3 minutes. The chicken should have a really stick coating. Marinade for 15 minutes.
4. While chicken marinades toast 1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons of sesame seeds on a pan, with no oil. Toast until seeds have a bit of color.
5. Combine all sesame chicken sauce in a bowl and mix well.
6. Combine flour and starch ingredients and seasoning in a bowl. Mix well, then add the reserved 6 tablespoons marinade on the flour mixture. Use a whisk to break up the large lumps. The results should look like crumbly cornmeal.
7. Dredge a handful of chicken to dry batter, squeeze lightly making sure flour sticks to chicken thighs.
8. Heat oil to 350°F (177°C). Do not try to fit all chicken in. Best to fry in batches, depending how big your pot of oil is. Fry until chicken has a golden brown color. Always wait until the oil is back to 350°F before frying each batch.
9. After frying all chicken for the first time. We will do a second fry for crunchier chicken. Heat oil to 375°F (190°C). Fry for around 40 seconds to 1 minute in batches again. Until chicken looks 1 to 2 shades darker.
10. Heat pan on low medium heat. When hot add 2 tablespoon oil. Add minced garlic and fry until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Then grate in 2 teaspoons fresh ginger. Careful not to burn garlic, if need to you can turn heat off at this point.
11. Continue mixing and stirring ginger and garlic for about 15 to 20 seconds then add sauce mixture. Add tablespoon of toasted sesame seeds. Turn on high heat and cook until sauce because thick and sticky.
12. Gently toss in fried chicken and mix well. Plate and sprinkle toasted sesame seeds and some spring onions.

Ingredients:

• 500g Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs

Chicken Marinade

• 1 Egg White (from large egg)
• 1 Tbsp Soy Sauce
• 1 Tbsp Shioxing Cooking Wine
• 1/2 Tsp Salt
• 1/2 Tsp Ground Black Pepper
• 2 Tbsp Cornstarch

Fry Coating

• 1/2 Cup Cornstarch
• 1/2 Cup Potato Starch

Sauce

• 2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
• 1 Tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
• 2 Tbsp Rice Vinegar (or Black Vinegar)
• 3 Tbsp Sugar
• 1 Tbsp Hoisin Sauce
• 1 Tbsp Shaoxing Wine
• 1/2 Tsp Sesame Oil
• 1 Tsp Cornstarch
• 4 Tbsp Chicken Stock or Water

Aromatics

• 3 Dried Red Chili
• 2 Cloves Garlic
• 1 Tsp Ginger
• 1 Tsp Chili Paste (optional for heat)
• 2 Stalks Green Onion

Cooking Instructions

Chicken Marinade

First, ChatGPT says to marinate 500 g of boneless chicken thighs—start by cutting them into 1-inch pieces.

1 inch pieces is a good start. When these chickens are fried it will expand. Larger pieces might be more difficult to handle during cooking. Pieces this small will cook quicker too.

Just make sure to cut them all around the same size. Doesn’t have be the exact same size. J

ust close enough to ensure they call cook roughly around the same time

We’re going to marinade the chicken with the usual Chinese ingredients.

An egg white, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp shaoxing wine, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper and finally 2 tablespoons of cornstarch.

The Dry Coat

Prepare 1/2 cup cornstarch and 1/2 cup potato starch.

Cornstarch and potato starch I think is a great combination for a light and airy crunch.

If you’ve never fried chicken using cornstarch and potato starch I highly recommend trying out this combination once.

Just combine the two and whisk then set aside.

The Sauce

In a mixing bowl goes, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce, 2 tbsp rice vinegar, 3 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce, 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine, 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil, tsp cornstarch and last, 4 tbsp chicken stock or water.

I highly recommend chicken stock, preferably no or low sodium.

Aromatics

Time to prepare the aromatics,

3 dried red chilies cut into 1/3. Finely mince two cloves of garlic. 1 teaspoon of ginger minced.

Finally the prerequisite 2 stalks of spring onions, chopped, separating the white and green parts.

Time to fry the chicken.

Dredge the marinated chicken in the dry starch mix until evenly coated. Or I like to say until it resembles powdered donuts.

When you’re all done, heat a pan large enough to fry these chickens. But I recommending frying batches.

My pan is large to fry it in two batches which is what I’ll do. Never, fry with too many ingredients.

Heat oil to 350 degrees Fahrenheit or 180 degrees Celsius. Here’s the old school chinese way to tell if you’re oil is hot enough.

Stick a wooden chopstick down the center of the oil. If it fizzes on contact the oil is hot enough.

Carefully place the chicken into the hot oil. Again I’m going to cook in two batches. Each batch took about 3-4 minutes for me to fry to this golden color.

When they’re done place on a wire rack to drain.

To make these freshly fried chicken extra crispy we’re going to double fry. First let the chicken hang out for ten minutes.

When those 10 minutes are up. Jack the heat up we are using the oil again for a second fry. Chat GPT says heat until oil temps get up to 375 degrees Fahrenheit or 190 degrees celcius.

I use the same chopstick trick, except I wait an extra minute for it to get extra hot and then I add all of the chicken at once.

Second fry should last around 30 seconds. When you pull it all out the fried chicken should look a shade or two darker.

Let the freshly double fried chicken hang out on a wire rack, we’re going to build the sauce now.

Cooking

On a clean pan heat on medium high and add 1 tbsp cooking oil. Wait for the oil to shimmer then add the dried chilis, toss until it darkens, about 10 seconds.

Then add garlic and ginger and white parts of the green onions. stir fry for 10 -15 seconds until fragrant.

Deglaze the pan with Shaoxing wine, this is optional, but any chance I can use chinese cooking wine, I do.

Pour in the prepared sauce and stir and cook until it thickens and turns glossy, about 30 seconds.

If you want to add Chili sauce this is the time to do so.

Now add the chicken back into the sauce, toss quickly over high heat

Coat the chicken best as you can on high heat so the sauce caramelizes.

Finally garnish with chilis and toasted sesame seeds.

The chilies i can go with. But sesame seeds I am doubtful. You add that and you’re going into Sesame Chicken territory.

I’ll just top it off with some green onions on a bed of broccoli.