Recipe: Sous Vide Sesame Chicken
By Jack Lawson Chicken Sous Vide
July 24, 2020
Sesame chicken is the counterpoint to salmon in our household. Tired of one? Then try the other. We suggest playing around with different types of vinegar for the marinade until you find something you like best. Personally, we're quite fond of both rice wine vinegar and Japanese mirin.
We recommend serving over a bed of soft white rice and garnishing with finely sliced scallions for a dash of colour.
- Prep: 15 mins
- Cook: 2 hrs 5 mins
- Yields: 2 servings
Ingredients
1.5 lbs skinless, boneless chicken breast
1-inch knob of frozen ginger, grated (you can also use room temperature, but I find that freezing the ginger makes it dissolve better into the meal)
3 crushed cloves of garlic
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
(optional) 1 tbsp mirin
Sesame Sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar (here you can use equal parts rice wine vinegar and mirin if desired)
1/3 cup honey
1 tbsp cornstarch fully dissolved in 1/3 cup of chicken stock (you can substitute water or veg stock if in a pinch)
2 tbsp lightly toasted sesame seeds, reserve 1 tbsp for garnishing
2 tsp sesame oil
(optional for heat) 1 tsp chili garlic sauce, can substitute with 1 tsp of crushed red pepper flakes if needed
Directions
1Begin by setting your water bath to 158 degrees Fahrenheit
2Cube your boneless, skinless chicken breast into 1-inch pieces
3Combine the chiken, grated ginger, crushed cloves of garlic, sesame oil, soy sauce and rice wine vinegar in a vacuum sealable bag. Massauge well.
4Completely submerge you bag in your water bath and cook for 2 hours.
5While the chicken is cooking get started on the sauce. In a wide bottomed skillet combine soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, honey, fully dissolved corn starch and stock, 1 tbsp of your toasted sesame seeds, sesame oil and garlic sauce.
6Cook on medium heat until simmering. Use the back of a spoon to check for sauce consistency. It should stick to the back of a spoon, or create a distinct trail in the bottom of your skillet. When finished set aside for when the chicken is done (or just time this part to when you're pulling the chicken out of your water bath.
7When the chicken is done remove it from the bag and discard the cooking liquid. Pat the cooked chicken dry with a bit of paper towel.
8Over low heat combine chicken and your finished sauce.
9Finally, serve over a bed of white rice and garnish with your remaing 1 tbsp of toasted sesame seeds and sliced scallion.
If working with frozen ginger make sure to use a plastic cutting board. Wooden boards will absorb the grated ginger and your measurments will be thrown off.
As for the mirin, this is a personal favourite, but hardly necessary unless you feel like experimenting. The honey in the sesame sauce fulfils a similar role as a sweetner, but without the acidity found in the more vinegar-like mirin.
2 Reviews
Candace McCale
March 4, 2021
OoooOOo!!! This tastes just like the Sesame Chicken at Mandarin! Not bad for my first try. Thanks for posting the recipe.
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Jerry Do
March 10, 2021
Very flavourful! Added some hot sauce to it for a kick!