Chicken With Sesame Seeds

Serves: to serve 3 - 4

Prep Time: 20 Minutes + waiting

Cook Time: 10 Minutes

Ready In: 30 mins
+ waiting

Ingredients

2 - boneless chicken breasts

1 - egg

½ teaspoon - salt

2 teaspoons - cornflour (cornstarch or wheat starch)

¼ pint - groundnut oil **

1 tablespoon - sesame seeds

1 teaspoon - dark soy sauce

1 teaspoon - cider vinegar

½ teaspoon - chili bean sauce

½ teaspoon - sesame oil

1 teaspoon - sugar

2 teaspoons - dry sherry

2 - spring onions (a.k.a. scallions or salad onions)

Directions

  1. Break the egg and separate the white from the yolk (The yolk an be added to the noodles in our Chow Mein recipe or to the beaten eggs in the Chinese Fried Rice recipe if you plan using one of them as an accompaniment to this dish). Remove any skin from the chicken breasts and cut them into fine shreds about 3" (7.5cm) long. Place them, along with the egg white, salt and cornflour (cornstarch or wheat starch) into a small bowl, blend together and place in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes.
  2. Heat the groundnut oil in a large frying pan until it is moderately hot. Add the chicken mixture and stir-fry it quickly in the oil to keep it from sticking to the pan. Cook this for about 1 minute until it turns white. Remove the chicken with a slotted spoon and drain in a sieve (strainer) or colander.
  3. Remove all but 1 tablespoon of the oil from the pan and set aside to cool (it can be reused in other stir-fry dishes that use chicken). Reheat the oil remaining in the pan until it is hot then add the sesame seeds and stir fry them for about 1 minute until they turn slightly brown.
  4. Add the soy sauce, cider, vinegar, chili bean sauce, sesame oil, dry sherry and finely chopped spring onions to the pan and bring this mixture to the boil. Return the cooked chicken to the pan and stir-fry for a further 2 minutes making sure that the chicken shreds are coated completely with the sauce and the sesame seeds. Serve with either Chow Mein or Chinese Fried Rice.
  5. ** Groundnut oil enhances the flavour of any stir-fried food. You can, however, substitute corn oil if necessary.