We had 5, count ‘em 5, bottles in the cupboard
This sesame chicken is supposed to be made in an ‘instant pot,’ called a pressure cooker in my childhood. We don’t own one, so I just browned in a frying pan and finished in a slow-cooker. Knowing that could dry the meat, I brined it for 30 minutes before cooking began. We loved it.
Mark Guydish | for Times Leader
MT and I managed to accrue several bottles of soy sauce, only one unopened, showing my failure as the retired partner who should check these things. As a result, I’m on a soy sauce recipe spree, starting with this sesame chicken (used 1/4 cup, emptying one bottle).
Mark Guydish | for Times Leader
MT and I occasionally have the bad habit of buying some ingredient for a recipe before checking if it’s already in the kitchen. Usually, at most this means two containers of a dry spice, maybe a second bag of coconut — something that doesn’t look terribly overstocked.
That changed when I recently rummaged through various bottles of sauces and oils for soy and found not one, not two, but five bottles of Kikkoman — two full and three at various stages of depletion. Hard to understand how that happened. I suspect mea culpa, as I’m almost certainly more likely than MT to reach for soy, though her less frequent use led to assuming we didn’t keep it around.
The soy super stash immediately prompted a web search for recipes that would use a good bit (and still taste good). I settled on this, from Taste of Home, and it filled both requisites. I emptied one bottle, and we both deemed it delish.
There is, however, one vital matter to report: It calls for an “instant pot” (a “pressure cooker” to us oldsters), and we don’t have one. I’ve only ever seen one, and that was my mom’s when I was a kid. She didn’t use it often, though I’m pretty sure she did her “porcupine meatballs” in it, a recipe I’ve replicated for the test kitchen, though in an oven.
Useful side note: Mom’s pressure cooker version always seemed to retain plenty of sauce; My first effort of oven baked were good but dry by comparison. I have since routinely doubled the sauce ingredients. I assume the different outcomes arose because the pressure cooker keeps all the moisture inside (and gets to “done” a lot sooner, reducing cooking time).
Lacking an “instant pot,” I opted for obvious alternatives. I browned the chicken in a pan, mixed in the sauce off-heat, and put it all into a slow-cooker to finish — on high for about 4 minutes, on low after stirring in the corn starch slurry for thickening.
This worked not only in producing a flavor-filled finished dish, but also as a way to keep half of it warm for MT, who came home from work more than an hour after I was done cooking. I just turned the slow cooker to warm and let it sit, lid on.
Knowing the chicken tenders I bought would end up with a greater chance of dehydration cooking this way, I brined them at the start, before slicing into one-inch strips. Regular readers may remember I brined for what I’m pretty sure was the first time when I grilled thin chicken breasts for a Memorial Day cookout this year.
Dobru chut!
Instant pot (or not) sesame chicken (tasteofhome.com, Karen Kelly)
1 to 2 tablespoons sesame oil
1½pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used tenders), cut into 1-inch pieces
¼ cup honey
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup water
3 garlic cloves, minced
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
3 teaspoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons cold water
Hot cooked rice
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
Thinly sliced green onions, optional
Select saute or browning setting on a 6-quart electric pressure cooker. Adjust for medium heat; add 1 tablespoon sesame oil. When oil is hot, brown chicken in batches using additional oil as necessary. Press cancel. Return all to pressure cooker. In a bowl, whisk honey, soy sauce, water, garlic and pepper flakes; stir into pressure cooker. Lock lid; close pressure-release valve. Adjust to pressure-cook on high for 4 minutes.
Quick-release pressure. In a small bowl, mix cornstarch and water until smooth; stir into pressure cooker. Select saute setting and adjust for low heat. Simmer, stirring constantly, until thickened, 1-2 minutes. Serve with rice. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and, if desired, green onions.
An alternative TL test cook Mark used since he doesn’t have an Instant pot: Brown chicken on stove top in saute pan, add sauce and either cook in pan or transfer to slow cooker and cook five minutes. Add cornstarch slurry, stir and cook on low.
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