Sesame Chicken

Sesame Chicken *without the sesame

We love chinese food and either get take out or make a stir-fry once a week! I wanted to try a new recipe to change things up a bit. The recipe was titled 'Sesame Chicken' but only uses sesame seeds as a garnish, so it's really more like a sweet/sour chicken. You marinate sliced chicken, pan fry it and then toss it in a delicious sweet/sour/spicy sauce and serve with steamed broccoli. It's really tasty and I plan to try this same method with different sauces. One new ingredient I used is chili paste. I always thought chili paste would be incredibly spicy and hot, but it's actually more flavorful than spicy. I also served steamed jasmine rice - which has much more flavor than everyday long grain rice. We're having leftover ravioli's tomorrow night - so no new recipes until Sunday! I froze the ravioil's and pink vodka sauce - so simple to reheat!

origin - Tyler Florence 'Eat This Book'
difficulty - simple to medium

2 large egg whites
2 tbsp cornstartch
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 tsp sodium sauce
1 tsp rice vinegar *I used apple cider vinegar
8 boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into thin strips *I used breasts
peanut oil for frying - I used vegetable oil
2-2 1/2 cups flours for dredging
salt/pepper to taste
1 bunch broccoli, trimmed and cut ito florets

Sauce
2/3 cup ketchup *if I were to do over, I would reduce this slightly
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp rice vengar *I used apple cider vinegar
1 fresh hot green chile, chopped
1 1/2 tbsp minced fresh ginger
2 tsp chile paste, such as sambal
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds for garnish *I used chopped green onions instead

In a large bowl, beat the egg whites with the cornstarch. Add the sesame oil, soy sauce, and rice vinegar and stir. Add the chicken and marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil for the broccoli. Pour the oil into a wok (or fry pan) and heat to 370 degrees. Meanwhile, season the flour on a plate with a good amount of salt and pepper and mix with your fingers to incorporate the seasoning. Working in batches, remove the chicken from the marinade, dredge in the flour and fry until crisp and lightly browned, about 1 minute. *this recipe calls for 'deep frying' but you can also pan fry in a pan filled 1/4 of the way with oil. Transfer to a paper towel lined platter. Now drop your broccoli into the boiling salted water. Return the water to a boil and cook the broccoli for about 1 minute, or until it's crisp-tender and a bright green color. Drain. Meanwhile, you need to make the sauce (I did this ahead of time). Combine all sauce ingredients in wok (or separate sauce pan) and heat over medium heat until it's warmed through. fold the chicken into the hot sauce until it's well coated and serve on a bed of the broccoli. Sprinkle with sesame seeds (or green onions) and serve.