Sesame Chicken with Ginger Rice for Secret Recipe Club.

Guess what today is??  You got it!!  It is Secret Recipe Club Day.

Today is the day we reveal whose blog we were assigned and what recipe from their blog we decided to create in our own kitchen.  It is a lot of fun and you should join us!!  Learn how right here.

This month, I was fortunate enough to be assigned Susan of Food, Baby, Life.  Susan lives down under with her husband and 3 boys, all under the age of 5.  God bless her.  You would think that she would have her hands full, and I'm sure she does but that doesn't stop her from posting some truly amazing recipes.  Susan also recently started try to "cut the crap" out of her diet.  This is perfect, especially since I got assigned to her in January when our resolutions of healthy eating are front and center.

Susan has loads of recipes and many of them are desserts.  She has a category just for allergy free baking that would be very handy for those who suffer from allergies.  She has done all the legwork for you and has provided some great recipes for you to try.  Susan also has tons of regular baked goods on her blog, birthday cakes, muffins, brownies...the list goes on and on.

But, as I stated earlier, it is January and I am going to try to cut back on the baked goods for a while so I went to her "mains" section.  I was not disappointed. The creamy prawn curry caught my eye right away but hubby is not a fan of seafood or curry so while I would love this, I will have to wait for a night when Ting and I are having dinner or lunch, just the two of us.  I also dallied around with the idea of the spiced meatball wrap, just reading that recipe got my mouth to watering.  But I finally settled on the Sesame Chicken with Ginger Rice and you should too.  You won't be sorry.

I made very few adaptations to this recipe and those that I did were mostly ingredient substitutions for what I had on hand.

The marinade called for sesame seeds and had you toast them.

I didn't have any plain sesame seeds so I used these black roasted sesame seeds.

The recipe had you skewer the chicken and grill it.

It was 5* F. when I made this dish.

I stir fried it in my wok.

The rice was made as written except that I omitted the pickled ginger as I didn't have any available. The rice was fragrant and delicious.  We normally have rice left over after dinner but not this night!!

Cook the sesame oil and ginger until fragrant.

Add the rice, stir to coat and and cook until rice starts to turn translucent.

Add the ginger beer, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until liquid is absorbed.

I stir fried some vegetables to add some nutrition and color to the meal.  I used just what I had in the refrigerator, some onion, carrots, yellow peppers and spinach.  It was a lovely medley.

When it came time to serve, I made a bed of rice down the center of the platter.

I surrounded the rice with the stir fry vegetables.

And then topped the rice with the Sesame Chicken.

It was as delicious as it was beautiful.

Sesame Chicken with Ginger Rice

very slightly adapted from Food, Baby, Life.

For chicken

2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into large strips

1 T. black roasted sesame seeds

1 T. rice wine

2 T. honey

2 T. soy sauce

2 T. oyster sauce

1 T. sesame oil

for rice

1 T. fresh ginger, minced (I used Gourmet Garden)

1 T. sesame oil

1 c. short grain rice 

1 bottle ginger beer

Place sesame seeds, wine, honey, soy sauce, oyster sauce and sesame oil into a large bowl.  Whisk until honey is incorporated.  Add chicken strips, covering with marinade.  Cover bowl and refrigerate for at least one hour and up to overnight.

Place the ginger and sesame oil into a large saucepan over medium heat.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until hot and fragrant, about 5 minutes.  Add the rice and stir to coat allowing to cook for another few minutes.  The rice will start to turn translucent.  Stir in the ginger beer and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed.  Remove from heat and let set while you stir fry the chicken.

Heat a wok over med high heat.  Remove chicken from marinade and cook, stirring frequently for about 10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.  

Place the Ginger Rice on a serving dish and top with the Sesame Chicken.  Print Recipe

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