On Friday, my oven stopped working. I was in the middle of trying out a new recipe for snickerdoodle bars, and the oven refused to heat up beyond 165 degrees. The repair man said he wouldn’t make it out to our house until this Friday, so I’m stuck making stove-top meals.
Well, maybe “stuck” isn’t the right word when I can cook things like this wonderful stir fry. It is has a thick, sweet sauce and works equally well with chicken or beef. Unlike the sesame chicken or beef you usually find at Chinese take-out places, this meat isn’t deep fried. I like the un-fried taste for this dish, but if you want to try crispy chicken in the sesame sauce you could use the chicken from my General Tso’s recipe.
Sesame Stir Fry
3 whole boneless chicken breasts or 1 pound of beef
Marinade
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine
1 tablespoon tapioca starch
a few drops of sesame oil
Cut the meat into 1-inch cubes. Mix the marinade ingredients and marinate the meat for 20 minutes.
Sauce
½ cup water
¼ cup tapioca starch (or cornstarch)
1 cup chicken or beef broth
1/8 cup rice vinegar
¾ cup sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 clove garlic (minced)
Mix together the water and tapioca starch in a small sauce pan. Add broth, and the remainder of the sauce ingredients. Set aside (you’ll be heating this to a boil in a little while).
Cooking
Fry the meat in a wok or deep skillet until done. Add desired vegetables and stir fry. I typically use carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and mushrooms. When I have them, I add bamboo shoots and cabbage. Really, you can use whatever you like.
Just before vegetables are finished cooking, bring sauce to a boil, stirring continuously. Pour the sauce over the chicken and vegetables. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve with rice.
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