Hi everyone! This is recipe adding to our series on Chinese American food hacks, reproducing the Panda Express Honey Sesame Chicken. I had a lot of fun dialing in the elements that make up Panda Express’ signature Honey Sesame Chicken dish, then taking a second shot at my own version which experiments with some ingredients that are pretty commonly found in Chinese cuisine, but a little less common in Chinese American cuisine. Hope you try it!
serves 2-3
INGREDIENTS
1 lb chicken breast
1/2 cup corn starch
kosher salt
pepper
4 cloves garlic
1 tbsp ginger (about 1 inch)
8 oz green beans
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 yellow bell pepper
1/2 medium white onion
12 oz vegetable oil + 4 tb additional oil to cook
INGREDIENTS (sauce)
tbsp corn starch
tbsp rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup water
4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce (or 2 tbsp full sodium soy sauce)
2 tbsp white sugar
4 tbsp hoisin sauce
PREP
CRUSH and mince garlic, finely mince ginger, set aside
BLANCH green beans in boiling water for 10 minutes, then remove ends, set aside
LARGE DICE bell peppers, set aside
LARGE DICE onion, set aside
LARGE DICE chicken breast, then coat in corn starch, set aside
COMBINE all sauce ingredients, mix to combine, set aside
ON THE STOVE
ADD 12 oz oil to wok and heat to 350 F, then deep fry chicken in batches until golden brown
REMOVE fryer oil, heat a wok as hot as possible, then add 4 tb vegetable oil to the wok, and coat the wok
BLOOM garlic and ginger in the wok until fragrant, about 30 seconds
ADD green beans, bell pepper, onions and chicken, toss to combine 1-2 minutes
ADD sauce, toss again to combine 1-2 minutes
SERVE over rice