Honey Sesame Chicken (甜蜜金凤 – 密糖芝麻鸡)

“Meal for Chinese Lunar New Year vs Western Valentine’s Day. “

So happen that this year’s Chinese Lunar New Year coincides with the Western Valentine’s Day. So, you might want to cook some sweet-hearted and auspicious with good symbolization dishes. Which condiment that first comes to your mind? The very first condiment I could think of to be used is… honey! No doubt, it has to be honey.

The sweet savoury flavor from the use of honey gives us a feeling of happiness, when we taste it. Honey, symbolizes sweet and loving life. Just for this reason, cooking this honey sesame chicken would be one of my priority dishes during the season (smile).

Ingredients
Half chicken, cut into pieces
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons of honey
1 tablespoons of ketchup
1 – 2 tablespoons of water

Seasoning
1 teaspoon of light soy sauce
Drizzle of sesame oil

2 tablespoons of corn starch (to coat chicken)
5 tablespoons of cooking oil (to pre-fry chicken)

Garnish
1 teaspoon of white sesame, lightly roasted (with wok)

Method
1) Marinate chicken with light soy sauce and sesame oil for at least 15 minutes.

2) Heat wok over low fire till wok is completely dry on the surface. Place white sesame into wok, and fry for 5 minutes, or until lightly roasted. Remove from wok, and reserve for later.

3) Briefly coat chicken pieces with corn starch on all sides. Heat wok with oil over high fire. Place coated chicken into wok to fry till lightly crisped and browned. Remove from wok to drain on wire strainer.

4) Remove excess oil in wok with just about 1 teaspoon of oil remains. Reduce heat to medium fire. Add garlic and stir-fry till fragrant. Return chicken into wok. Add in ketchup and water. Stir-fry a little, to mix. Then, drizzle honey in circular motion. Stir-fry immediately to mix well, until honey sauce is thicken and well glazed on chicken. Dish up and garnish with roasted sesame before serve.

This dish does not serve with much gravy, but more to a glazed chicken dish with thick gravy.

A portion of my honey sesame chicken counts about 250kcal – 300kcal.

Tips: You may choose to add in roasted sesame into the wok to stir and toss with chicken to combine well, before dish up.
* Do not over heat the honey. Best to add in honey only after heat off. Step remains the same though.