What's For Dinner? Season 2: Sesame Chicken

Instead of stopping at local restaurants to see how the best food is prepared, we at Patch decided to get demonstrations by local residents right in their own kitchens to see what they cook to perfection. 

"What's For Dinner?" returns for a brand new season and in the first installment, we visit Bayport to cook up some sesame chicken.  Darlene Soong and her daughter Rachel have been making the recipe for a few years and they sure cooked it to perfection!

If you have a house specialty that you'd like to share on "What's For Dinner?" email A.J. at anthonyv@patch.com.

Catch up on Season 1 here:

Sesame Chicken Recipe:

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp sesame seeds
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup soy sauce
• 1 cup maple syrup
• 1 tbsp sherry
• 1 tsp ginger root minced
• ½ tsp five spice powder
• 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• 1 pound uncooked boneless chicken breast, cut into 2 inch pieces
• 2 tsp peanut oil
• 2 tsp sesame oil

Instructions

Place a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat.  Add sesame seeds and cook until lightly toasted, shaking the pan frequently, about 2 to 3 minutes, transfer seeds to a shallow dish and set aside.

Whisk water, soy sauce, maple syrup, sherry, ginger and five spice powder together in a small bowl; set aside.

Combine flour and pepper in a shallow dish, add chicken and turn to coat.  Shake chicken pieces to remove excess flour.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add chicken and sauté until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes. Add soy sauce mixture to chicken and cook until sauce thickens and is almost evaporated, about 2-3 minutes more.

Dip chicken pieces in toasted sesame seeds and serve, drizzled with any additional soy sauce mixture.  Yields about 4 strips per serving.