Korean Candy Chicken

Category: Main Dishes | Blog URL: http://www.whitelotuscooks.com/2010/01/recipe-toasted-sesame-candy-chicken.html

This recipe was entered in The Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook contest, a compilation of the world’s best food blogs which was published in Fall 2010.

Photo: Whitelotuscooks

Ingredients

2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 4 fillets)

2 eggs

2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup soy sauce

toasted sesame seeds

cooked rice

sliced scallions (optional)

Preparation

In a pan, pour about two inches of oil and heat on medium heat till hot.

Cut chicken on the diagonal into thick strips, about two inches wide.

In a bowl, beat eggs.

In another container, place flour.

Coat chicken strips in egg mixture first, then generously pat with flour, covering all sides. I will often give it a couple of coatings. There should be a thick layer of batter on the chicken pieces.

When oil is hot, fry chicken pieces till golden brown, about 3 minutes on each side.

Remove chicken, and let rest on a paper towel to drain the oil.

To make candy sauce, place soy sauce and sugar in a bowl and mix together, about 30 seconds.

The sugar will not completely dissolve, but the mixture should be thick, and not grainy.

Add sesame seeds and mix to incorporate.

Dip chicken in sauce, covering all sides.

Repeat, till all pieces are covered.

Serve with rice, drizzle remain sauce over chicken.

Garnish with sliced scallions.

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About

A couple of months ago, a long-time friend moved back into my neighborhood. My pal Jared is responsible for introducing me to my husband, and I decided to make him my fall-back favorite: Korean Candy Chicken. He's had this dish many times during the course of our friendship.

I got the basics of this recipe from my mom's friend Junko, while my family was living in Okinawa, Japan. For lunch one day, Junko cooked a fried chicken dish that was so amazingly sweet and savory, I absolutely had to have it.

Junko happily obliged and told me the list of ingredients. I figured out the components, and this recipe easily became a family favorite. Mom made it occasionally, but I cook this easy chicken dish all the time. So much in fact, it's become a repeat note in my house. If you've ever been to my home for dinner, chances are, you've had this meal.

This Korean influenced chicken dish is easy to make. A basic egg and flour batter, and it's ready to fry. The secret is in the sauce, which is just as simple. The combination of soy sauce, sweetened with sugar is made beautiful with the additional highlight of toasted sesame seeds. Once fried and coated, this chicken dish makes for one crowd pleasing meal.

While my husband and I were dating, it was the first dish I made for him. At the time, I lived in San Jose and he was in San Francisco. I like to think this sweetly glazed chicken gave him good reason to travel an hour to my place. If you're familiar with the Bay Area, you may know the difficulties of getting anyone to venture outside the inclusive boundaries of City. To San Franciscans, everything is already there. Why trek past the comfortable Golden Gates on to highway 101?

Well, for my Candy Chicken, of course.

This recipe is also a little tribute to Jared. So many years ago, Jared dubbed this dish, "Candy Chicken." He said it was sweet like candy, and he couldn't stop popping the crunchy pieces in his mouth.

The nickname stuck, and so did Brendan. I like to think this sweetly glazed chicken gave him good reason to continue making the commute.