By Vivian Chan-Tam
Updated Feb. 6, 2024
- Total Time
- 50 minutes
- Prep Time
- 10 minutes
- Cook Time
- 40 minutes
- Rating
- 4(616)
- Notes
- Read community notes
The history of sesame chicken, a delightful dish of battered and fried boneless chicken pieces in sweet and sour sauce, is a bit unclear. While it’s similar to General Tso’s, and la zi ji (or firecracker chicken), a spicy Sichuan dish of chicken, sesame, chiles and Sichuan peppercorns, sesame chicken skews sweeter, thanks to a heap of brown sugar and no chiles. As the name implies, the dish’s defining characteristic is the prominence of sesame flavor, owing to the toasted sesame oil in the marinade and the seeds sprinkled on top. Serve it piled on top of white rice and steamed broccoli.
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Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
- 1¼pound boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
- ⅓cup oyster sauce
- 1tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- 1tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1tablespoon vegetable oil, plus more for frying (about 8 cups)
- 2large eggs
- 1cup cornstarch
- 1¾teaspoons kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
- 5garlic cloves, chopped
- 5teaspoons tomato paste
- ¼cup lightly packed light brown sugar
- 3tablespoons rice vinegar
- ½teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 2teaspoons toasted sesame seeds
- 4cups steamed jasmine rice
- 4cups steamed broccoli florets (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
749 calories; 18 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 8 grams monounsaturated fat; 5 grams polyunsaturated fat; 104 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams dietary fiber; 16 grams sugars; 40 grams protein; 1264 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
In a medium bowl, add chicken thighs, 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce, Shaoxing wine and 1 teaspoon sesame oil. Mix until well combined and let marinate for 5 minutes.
Step
2
Meanwhile, in a large, heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven, heat 2 inches of vegetable oil over medium-high to 375 degrees. (Check temperature with a deep-fry thermometer.)
Step
3
Beat eggs in a wide, shallow dish. Add cornstarch to a second shallow dish. Place half of the chicken in the egg mixture and toss until fully coated, allowing excess to drip back onto the dish. Transfer chicken to the cornstarch; toss until each piece is fully coated.
Step
4
Using a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken to the oil; fry until golden brown and fully cooked, turning occasionally, about 6 minutes. Remove with the slotted spoon to a large paper towel-lined bowl and season with 1½ teaspoon salt. Repeat with remaining chicken. (The oil should return to 375 degrees before frying the new batch.)
Step
5
In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, combine 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and the garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the garlic is golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes.
Step
6
Add the tomato paste and fry, stirring often, until the oil is stained and the tomato paste becomes a shade darker, about 2 minutes.
Step
7
Stir in 3 tablespoons water, the brown sugar, vinegar, the remaining 3 tablespoons oyster sauce, the remaining 2 teaspoons sesame oil, crushed red pepper and ¾ teaspoon salt. Increase heat to medium and cook until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon, 1 to 2 minutes.
Step
8
Remove the paper towel from the bowl of fried chicken and pour the sauce all over. Toss until the chicken is well coated. Transfer to a plate and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds. Serve with steamed rice and broccoli, if desired.
Ratings
4
out of 5
616
user ratings
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Cooking Notes
Bob in PDX
Possible to make in air fryer with far less oil? Has anyone tried?
Brian D.
I have a Breville Smart Pro oven/air fryer and often cook my chicken in there. Coat with cornstarch (velvet) and spray with neutral oil. My unit has large flat trays and I am able to do two batches at once. Two things to be careful of. Make sure coating is not dripping or place a piece of foil on a low rack to catch drips. Cook high and fast and watch to be sure chicken does not overcook. Each air fryer is different so you need to figure out your timing.
LN
This was absolutely delicious, but not better enough than take out to justify the mess and bother.
J
A dry sherry works well
WiscoCali
Question ....has anyone tried velveting the chicken before costing again in egg and cornstarch and frying?
Janet Exploder
Wow I made this a second time for my son who has a new appreciation for Chinese food and it came out better than last time. I made the sauce in the morning which felt like it cut down on prep time. I also put the corn starch in a zip lock and shook the chicken vigorously to coat it. That worked much better than using a bowl. Working with the corn starch is the worst part of this recipe but it’s a necessity. I also used a third less rice vinegar because it was too overpowering last time.
Kathy Gallagher
Delicious! I had to use sherry and fish sauce instead of Chinese wine and oyster sauce because that’s what I had - no problem with those substitutions.I would recommend making a little more sauce so everything gets well coated. That’s are definitely the way to go.
Allison
Try using vegetarian oyster sauce. It was developed for Kosher Chinese restaurants.
Julie
Not my favorite sesame chicken recipe. A little too tomato-y for me. I also did half in the air fryer, and found that it was perfectly fine, though with less of an outer coating than the other half that I deep-fried. I wouldn't make this again. Looking for a better version of the sauce.
MatthiasW
Anyone try this in an air frier by any chance?
Tamara
Fantastic! I used mirin instead to substitute the wine but that’s it. I followed others advice and made the sauce first.
Denis K
Delicious meal! Would recommend!
SY
You don’t need 8 cups of oil to fry the chickens but just enough so that half of the chicken pieces are immersed in it. I fried the chickens like that in my deep pan. Also, if you don’t have any tools to check the oil temperature, try throwing a tiny piece of the cornstarch dough in the heated oil. If it floats up immediately, then the oil is hot enough. If not, then you need to wait a bit longer.
Jeanne
I followed this recipe faithfully but the outcome was bad. Kitchen was a mess, coating on the chicken was too thick, and the sauce was bitter. No one liked it so we tossed the leftovers in the trash, which we rarely do. This is one of the few NYT recipes I’ll never try again.
Paula
I made this following the recipe as written, but using rice flour instead of cornstarch. I didn’t have broccoli, so I used sugar snap peas that I charred in a cast iron skillet with a little salt and pepper. All in all, a tasty dish that I will be happy to add to my rotation.
Brushjl
No problem with old world style, a wok. Great recipe, I surrounded the chicken with steamed broccoli and it looked and tasted fantastic!
Brushjl
Delicious, I'd skip the ketchup next time, though.
Maureen Kelly
This is so delicious. My children loved it! I used more chicken.
SL
the tomato paste was too strong, I'd recommend halving the paste and adding some honey
Tiipiloo
Made for Hanukkah (oil!) and ran out of cornstarch so made second batch in potato starch. Just as crispy and delicious, and with the sauce did not notice the difference. Huge mess but yummy meal.
talbott
I found that 1cup was too much cornstarch. I had better luck w second batch when I just sprinkled a very light amount before frying.
Note!
Insanely good with tofu instead of chicken!
mmj
Just delicious! I cooked in my wok so didn’t use much oil—just took a bit longer to prepare the chicken. I also followed another reader’s advice and put the cornstarch into a plastic bag and coated the pieces that way. The sauce was divine and the addition of crispy steamed broccoli was just right. Thank you!
Jen
This recipe is absolutely delicious. I read through the recipe first, and did the prep in advance. The recommendation for the 8 cups of oil was perfect in my Dutch Oven and they cooked in 6 minutes. You need the full cup of corn starch so that it doesn’t get gloppy. The sauce is very yummy and i will make this again and again.
JGC
8 cups of oil = $10 just for the frying. Unless you’re going to filter the oil afterward, this seems a non-starter.
Cathy
Great flavours, just be prepared for a LOT of extra time and clean-up. I will change slightly next time: 1) instead of tossing the chicken pieces in the eggs & then tossing again in cornstarch, I'll dip & coat piece by piece - this may seem like a longer process but my hunch is that it'll be about the same time because avoiding the gloopy mess & caking from tossing in a bowl. 2) more sauce! The recipe it turned out for me had enough sauce to coat about half of each piece. Overall, YUM!
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