Ever since our son Nick came home from Stetson after graduation, he has been craving Sesame Chicken. But not just any Sesame Chicken – apparently Top’s China was the favorite place for starving Stetson students to gorge on this Chinese staple in DeLand, Florida.
Since Nick knows that I’m not planning to make chicken anytime soon, I was motivated to create a meatless version that would satisfy his Sesame Chicken craving.
After a lot of thought, I decided to use Quorn Meatless & Soy-Free Chik’n Tenders as the base. I marinated them in a recipe that borrowed liberally from one that Tyler Florence posted (with a few of my own variations to amp up the flavor, heat, and twang).
I deep-fried the marinated nuggets in peanut oil, stir fried some broccoli is sesame oil, and served it over organic long grain brown rice.
Nick told me before dinner that he would be brutally honest, and when I asked him if I’d at least gotten to first base, he said, “Mom, this is easily a triple. Not quite as good as I remember from Top’s, but really delicious.”
Please give it a try. And here’s news from Quorn UK – they are now doing completely vegan products (those pesky egg whites were turning off a big portion of their potential consumers!) So, if you are vegan with access to products sold by Quorn UK, please seek out Quorn’s new Pieces and try them in this dish. [Note to Quorn – please make Pieces available to all of us in the US who would love to try this product!]
- 1 cup organic long grain brown rice, rinsed
- 12 ounces Quorn Meatless & Soy-Free Chicken Tenders
- 6 Tablespoons low sodium organic soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon grated ginger
- 4 tablespoons corn starch
- 1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
- 4 tablespoons unbleached white or white whole wheat flour
- $ tablespoons filtered water
- 3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed
- 2 teaspoons sirrachi
- 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
- 1 tablespoon umeboshi plum vinegar
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons low sodium organic soy sauce
- 1-2 tablespoons Hoisin sauce
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 2 cups vegetarian broth
- ¼ cup corn starch
- ½ cup sesame seeds
- Peanut oil
- 2-3 tablespoons chopped scallions
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 head of organic broccoli
- 1 teaspoon low-sodium organic soy sauce
- Put the brown rice in a rice cooker with about 1¼ cups of filtered water, and cook for 50 minutes.
- In a large bowl combine the frozen chicken tenders with the soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, sea salt, ginger, corn starch, baking powder, and water. Let it set while you are doing the sauce, prepping your broccoli, and getting the peanut oil hot in a large skillet.
- In a medium sauce pan, combine the toasted sesame oil, ginger, garlic, sirachi, sherry vinegar, omeboshi plum vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, hoison sauce, honey, vegetarian broth, and corn starch. Cook over gentle heat and stir well so that the corn starch doesn’t form lumps.
- You should begin stir frying your broccoli, in sesame oil and your peanut oil should not be hot. Sprinkle on the sesame seeds on your battered chicken tenders and stir well to coat so that they are fully covered with sesame seeds.
- Drop in one chicken tender and make sure that it sizzles before add the rest. Begin dropping in about a dozen more tenders, but don’t over-crowd the skillet. The temperature of the oil in the skillet drops if you crowd in too many pieces. Cook until each piece is golden brown and then remove them to a cookie sheet lined with 4-5 layers of paper towels to absorb the oil. Continue cooking until all are done.
- By now, your broccoli should be beautifully cooked – just season it with a bit of soy sauce - and your sauce should be thick enough to coat a spoon. Put the cooked sesame crusted chicken pieces in the sauce. Then spoon them over the rice, top with scallions, and add some broccoli to your plate. Pick up those chop sticks and enjoy the best alternative to take-out Sesame Chicken. Delicious Chinese food you cooked yourself – without MSG and most importantly – without chicken!
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