Pulled Sesame Chicken

I sometimes cook Rosh Chodesh lunches for my husband’s office, where there’s a monthly Kiddush attended by about 30 hungry men. They get to be my guinea pigs for the recipes I come up with but don’t want to spend all my calories on! While sesame chicken is obviously always a crowd-pleaser, if I’m cooking eight different meat dishes for 30 people, you can be sure I’m not battering and frying all that chicken! This alternative is much quicker yet still has that familiar Chinese takeout flavor, and it’s all made in one pot. Serve it over rice to make sure you get every last drop of that sauce!

Directions

Prepare the Chicken

1. Place the chicken breast and salt in a medium saucepan and cover with water. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat until fully cooked, about 25 minutes.

2. Remove the chicken from the pot, reserving the liquid. When the chicken is cool enough to be handled, shred it.

3. Keep two cups of liquid from the poached chicken and discard the rest. Add sugar, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, mirin, and sesame oil to the liquid in the pot and bring to a boil. Mix the cornstarch with cold water until dissolved and add to the boiling sauce. Cook until thickened, about three more minutes.

4. Return the shredded chicken to the sauce. Serve with crispy fried onions and sesame seeds sprinkled on top.

Credits

Photography: Moishe Wulliger

Styling: Renee Muller

Recipe tags

Chinese food Crowd-pleaser Crowdpleaser Family-favorite Kosher chinese food Michal Frishman One-pot dishes Pulled chicken Sesame chicken Stovetop Stovetop meals