Sesame Ginger Chicken

Kelsey Nixon has a great show entitled "Kelsy's Essentials".  She did a take-out show.  Here is her recipe for Sesame Ginger Chicken, one of my new favorite Chinese dishes.  Enjoy.

Ingredients
Chicken Marinade

• 2-1/2 pounds boneless, skinless, chicken thights, cut into 1-inch cubes.
• 6 TB Sesame Oil
• 2-1/2 TB Sugar
• 2 TB Soy Sauce
• 1  Teas. Cracked Black Pepper

Stir-Fry

1 Cub plus 2 TB Cornstarch
Vegetable Oil (for dutch oven)
2 TB minced Garlic
1 TB mined Ginger
4 TB Chinese Shoaxing Rice Wine
2 TB Hoisin Sauce
2 TB Oyster Sauce
2 TB Soy sauce
1-1/2 TB Honey
1 TB Sambal Chili Sauce
1 TB Thai Chili Sauce
1 Lemon, zest and juice
Scallions, thinkly sliced on an angle for garnish
Rice, for serving

Procedures

For the chicken marinade: In a mixing bowl, combine the chicken with the Sesame oil, sugar, soy sauce and pepper.  Toss to coat, cover, place in the refrigerator and let sit 1 hour.
For the stir-fry: Remove the chicken from the fridge.  Add 1 cup cornstarch to a shallow baking dish and dredge each piece of chicken, shaking off any excess.
Fill a dutch oven or high-sided saute pan with enough vegetable oil to completely submerge the chicken pieces.  Heat over high heat until glossy and the temperature eaches 375 degrees F.  Deep fry the chicken until golden brown, about 3 minutes, adding your chicken in batches to avoid overcrowding and to keep your oil from dropping in temperature too much.  Remove to a paper towel-lined plate. 
In a large sauce pan, heat 1 TB vegetable oil over medium heat.  Add the garlic and Ginger and cook until golden brown and fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Next, add the rice wine, Hoisin, Oyster sauce, Soy sauce, Honey and the Chili sauces; bring to a simmer.
In a glass measuring cup, mix the remaining 2 TB cornstarch with 1/4 cup of very cold water (make sure your water is very cold to avoid lumps), whisking until combined.  Add the cornstarch mixture to the sauce and simmer for an additional minute until the sauce thickens.  Adjust seasoning to taste. 
Add in the fried chicken and toss to coat with the sauce.  Add the Lemon zest and juice.  Garnish with toasted Sesame seeds and Scallions.  
Serve over warm rice.