Asian dishes Archives - The Midnight Baker

Honey Garlic Sesame Chicken

Judith Hannemann — Sun, 27 Mar 2022 00:00:08 +0000

Skip the takeout and make this honey garlic sesame chicken in your own kitchen.

Honey Garlic Sesame Chicken–Take Out At Home

Honey garlic sesame chicken is one of the top take-out dishes at Asian restaurants. You can see why when you taste it!

Now you can skip the take-out joint and make this dish in your own kitchen. First, you know exactly what’s going into what you eat. To me that’s really important.

It’s very easy to make but there are a couple of steps involved. They’re not hard and not really time consuming. One step can be eliminated if you don’t mind the battered chicken not being super crispy. However the extra step for the crisp coating for me is a given. That’s why I recommend it being done.

Double Frying

That’s right; the chicken is fried twice.

This added step makes the batter super crispy so it doesn’t get soggy when tossed with the sauce. Of course, it is supposed to be served immediately. Trying to keep this warm will defeat the purpose of the second fry.

If you have to hold it to keep it warm, then eliminate the second fry time. You can also eliminate that step if you don’t require the coating to be very crunchy.

Breasts Or Thighs

I tend to use boneless skinless thighs when doing anything battered and fried that’s Asian. The meat seems to hold up better, has more taste and is tender without having to velvet it.

If you use boneless skinless breasts then I would advise velveting the meat. It’s pretty easy and uses a common ingredient–baking soda. For each half pound of meat (225 g) sprinkle it with 3/4 teaspoon of baking soda, toss to coat and let it stand for 20 minutes. Then rinse the meat well and dry it on paper towels and proceed with the battering and frying.

The Recipe

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Honey Garlic Sesame Chicken

Forget takeout and make it at home

Prep Time20

Cook Time30

Course: Main, Main Course

Cuisine: Asian

Keyword: asian sesame chicken, authentic sesame chicken, take-out style sesame chicken

Servings: 4

Calories: 1408kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs cut in bite-sized pieces
2 tbs cornstarch
2 cups oil for frying
2-3 tbs sesame seeds
1 green onion sliced for garnish

Batter:

1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 egg white
1/3 cup water
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Sauce:

1 tbs oil
2 cloves garlic finely minced
1/3 cup honey
3 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs sesame oil
1 tbs rice vinegar

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Heat in a large deep skillet or dutch oven to 350F/180C.
Toss chicken in the 2 tbs cornstarch so that all pieces are coated.
Combine all batter ingredients in another bowl and whisk well so there are no lumps. Place chicken in the batter and coat well,
Add about 8-10 pieces of chicken to the hot oil, letting excess batter drip back into the batter bowl. Fry for 8 minutes then remove chicken to drain on a rack. Repeat until all the chicken is fried. Keep the oil hot because you're double frying the chicken so it doesn't get soggy.
Meanwhile, make the sauce by heating the 1 tbs of oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds--don't let the garlic burn,'
Add the remaining ingredients and cook until the sauce is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes making sure to watch it and stirring frequently. Don't let the honey burn. Keep the sauce warm over low heat.
Now refry the chicken--again in batches--for 3 minutes or until it begins to get golden brown. Drain on rack as before.
Add the chicken to the sauce and toss to coat. Place chicken on a serving platter and sprinkle with the sesame seeds and sliced green onion.

Notes

Chicken breast may be substituted, but see post for directions.

Nutrition

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Asian BBQ Pork Loin

Judith Hannemann — Sat, 06 Apr 2019 23:00:12 +0000

An Asian-style pork loin with a tasty BBQ sauce that’s so easy to make.

Economical Pork

Pork has been featured at great prices lately–at least in my area.

What I do when there is a fantastic sale on whole pork loins is buy a couple and cut them up myself. Basically I do nice thick chops and leave a couple of pieces for roasting.

I found one that I vacuum sealed with my Foodsaver in my refrigerator freezer and I was glad I did. I found a very interesting recipe in Taste of Home that I wanted to try. This roast portion was the perfect size for the recipe too.

Tangy Sauce

This tangy BBQ sauce is awesome!

You may have to purchase a couple of the ingredients to make it. I do a lot of Asian-style cooking so I have them on hand. You will need five-spice powder, hoisin sauce and maybe Chinese mustard. If you get Chinese take-out from time to time, you may already have the mustard and one of those packets is the perfect amount to use. However, if you have mustard powder in the pantry, just add an equal amount of water to mustard powder and voila! Chinese mustard!

You do have to cook and reduce this BBQ sauce, but it is so worth it. Save a little bit back for dipping because you’ll want it!

Don’t Be Tempted To Overcook

Don’t be tempted to overcook the pork. It takes only 50 minutes in the oven to almost cook through and the additional time after the glaze is applied finishes it off.

Pork is safe to eat even at rare I am told (although it is not at it’s best then and I STILL can’t do it). This cooks until it is just going into the medium-well stage at 145 degrees F. I have to admit I was always overcooking pork just to be on the “safe side,” but now I don’t. I cook it to the temperature mentioned before and it is fully cooked and oh-so juicy.

The Recipe

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Asian BBQ Pork Loin

An Asian-style pork loin with a tasty BBQ sauce that’s so easy to make.

Prep Time30

Cook Time1 10

Total Time1 40

Course: Main

Cuisine: Asian

Keyword: Asian pork recipe, BBQ recipe, pork loin

Servings: 6

Calories: 509kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

4 lbs boneless pork loin about 3-4 lb
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Sauce

1 tbs butter
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/3 cup honey
1/2 cup ketchup
1 pinch Chinese 5-spice powder
1 1/2 tsp Chinese-style mustard see NOTES
1 tbs hoisin sauce
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a shallow baking pan with heavy-duty foil.
Mix the 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp of pepper and rub on the pork loin. Place the pork loin in the prepared pan and roast, uncovered, for 50 minutes.
For the sauce, melt the 1 tbs butter in a small saucepan. Add the onion and cook until the onion is soft but not brown. Mix in the remaining sauce ingredients. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until reduced to about 3/4 cup.
Brush the sauce over the pork and cook for 15-20 minutes longer or until the internal temperature reaches 145 degrees F. Remove from the oven to a platter.
Tent the roast with foil and let the roast stand for 10 minutes before slicing

Notes

* This is a great place to use one of those mustard packets you get with take-out. If you don’t have one, mix an equal amount of water and dry mustard powder until smooth. Let it stand for about 10 minutes before using.

Nutrition

*Post contains affiliate links

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Asian Chicken Salad and Sesame Soy Dressing

Judith Hannemann — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 04:00:00 +0000

Asian Chicken Salad and Sesame Soy Dressing

Why go to those fast-food joints when you can make this healthy salad at home and in a edible bowl too! Delicious and low calorie too.

This salad combines shredded leaf lettuce of any kind, assorted greens, a dressing that will knock your socks off and, of course, teryaki glazed chicken breast slices.

Great salad for a light dinner

The edible bowl is a shaped flour tortilla. Easy enough to do with the molds that come with a fajita set or you can merely make a baseball-sized ball of aluminum foil and drape the tortilla over that.

This is the ultimate in “clean” food and supplies plenty of energy.

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Asian Chicken Salad and Sesame Soy Dressing

This salad combines shredded leaf lettuce of any kind, assorted greens, a dressing that will knock your socks off and, of course, teryaki glazed chicken breast slices.

Prep Time30

Cook Time20

Total Time50

Course: Chicken, lunch, salads

Cuisine: Asian

Keyword: Asian chicken recipe, chicken salad recipe, sesame soy dressing

Servings: 2

Calories: 580kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

DRESSING

1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tbs unseasoned rice vinegar
2 tbs oil
1 tbs dark sesame oil
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbs water
pinch of grated ginger
1 tbs toasted sesame seed
Combine all ingredients in a jar that has a lid. Shake well and refrigerate.

SALAD

Leaf lettuce any kind shredded (amount your choice)
Baby Spinach amount your choice
Watercress amount your choice
Grape Tomatoes sliced in half (amount your choice)
Scallions thinly sliced (amount your choice)
OR YOU COULD CHEAT AND USE MESCALUN MIX LOL
Use approximately equal amounts of all the greens lettuce, spinach & watercress. Mix together and store in a large plastic bag. You can make enough so there's salad left over for another meal.

EDIBLE BOWL

2 medium flour tortilla about 8-10-inches diameter
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Dampen tortilla by sprinkling with water. Smooth off excess water and pat with a paper towel. Drape moistened tortilla over inverted fluted mold and shape tortilla to conform to shape OR drape over a baseball-sized ball of aluminum foil (it will flute naturally this way).
Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 5 minutes or until tortilla feels crisp and holds it's shape. Remove from oven and let cool on mold foil ball

CHICKEN

1 medium boneless skinless chicken breast (approx 8 oz)
1/4 cup teryaki glaze or Chinese BBQ Sauce--available in Asian section of the grocery
Preheat broiler or BBQ grill to medium heat. Grill chicken breast about 10 minutes each side or until juices run clear. Brush with glaze, turn up the heat to high and cook until glaze just begins to caramelize.
Slice diagonally in 1/4-inch slices.

Instructions

Putting It All Together
Place about 1 cup of greens in each edible bowl. Add desired amount of sliced grape tomatoes and scallions. Place 1/2 of the sliced chicken on top of greens in each bowl. Add dressing.
Serves 2

Nutrition

Asian Chicken Salad and Sesame Soy Dressing

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Mongolian Beef

Judith Hannemann — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 17:05:00 +0000

Mongolian Beef

This dish is a REAL winner. Uses ground beef and ready in less than 30 minutes with a minimum of prep. Who could ask for more?

This recipe comes from my blogging buddy Lillian R who personally developed this recipe in her own kitchen. Whoever makes it gives it rave reviews.

Lillian has very kindly consented to me presenting her dish on my own blog. I have made some additions, one she even recommended–adding baby carrots for a little crunch factor and color.

Easy and inexpensive

Make sure to check her blog for many fantastic recipes, including the original of this. She has tried literally thousands of online recipes and has posted hundreds of results on her blog with her own critiques. Pull up a chair, grab a cup of coffee and visit with Lillian here:

My Recipe Journey

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Mongolian Beef

This dish is a REAL winner. Uses ground beef and ready in less than 30 minutes with a minimum of prep. Who could ask for more?

Prep Time15

Cook Time15

Total Time30

Course: beef, skillet dinners

Cuisine: Asian

Keyword: mongolian beef

Servings: 4

Calories: 382kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

1 lb extra-lean ground beef
4 cloves garlic minced
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp dry white wine
2 tbsp sherry
2 tbsp rice vinegar my substitution
1/2 cup baby carrots cut in chunks (my addition)
1/4 tsp grated ginger
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp creamy peanut butter
2 tbsp dark sesame oil for frying
1/2 cup chopped scallions
rice

Instructions

Heat a wok or large heavy skillet. Add sesame oil. Add ground beef, carrots and garlic and brown well. Continue browning until all the meat juice is evaporated.
Add all other ingredients except the scallions. Stir well and heat until sauce is reduced by 50%--about 5 minutes.
Serve over rice. Top with chopped scallions.
Serves 4 (but Lillian says it serves 2 LOL)

Nutrition

Mongolian Beef

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Asian Green Beans

Judith Hannemann — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 05:00:00 +0000

Asian Green Beans

This is one of my most favorite things to eat at a Chinese buffet…ok dim sum (dumplings) too…

Incredibly easy to make. You can start with fresh whole green beans, but if you are lucky enough to have an Aldi around you, they sell the most FABULOUS frozen whole baby green beans that are perfect for this. If you start with fresh beans, cut off the stem end

Crisp, tasty & delicious

If using frozen beans, defrost them then drain them and dry them off a bit, as any water will make the hot oil splatter.

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Asian Green Beans

Prep Time5

Cook Time5

Total Time10

Course: side dishes, vegetarian dishes

Cuisine: Asian

Keyword: asian green beans, green beans

Servings: 4

Calories: 135kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

16 oz bag of whole frozen green beans defrosted and drained/dried –or- de-stemmed fresh
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 clove garlic crushed
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 tsp dark sesame oil
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp toasted sesame seed

Instructions

Heat 2 tbs vegetable oil in large skillet or wok. Add crushed garlic clove and stir around until it begins to brown; remove and discard garlic clove.
Add drained and dried beans and sprinkle with the 1 tsp of sugar. Stir fry until they are bright green. Add the soy sauce and the sesame oil and stir and toss to coat beans.
Remove to platter and sprinkle with toasted sesame seed. Serve immediately.

Nutrition

Asian Green Beans

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Quinoa Fried “Rice”

Judith Hannemann — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 17:16:00 +0000

Quinoa Fried Rice

Quinoa has become one of my favorite grains. Often, I will substitute quinoa for rice in many dishes.

Using quinoa in place of white rice in my fried rice recipe was a big improvement. The grain has a natural crunch and nuttiness that adds so much to this dish.

Quinoa is cooked exactly like rice. I use my rice cooker to prepare it. Yes, it’s a little more costly than rice, but you can find deals. I buy this in my local health food store in the bulk section. It’s half the price as a small box you can buy in the supermarket.

Delicious Quinoa Fried Rice

The version shown above is vegetarian. If you prefer a little meat in this, then any leftover chicken, pork or beef will do. For the recipe given, add about 1 cup of diced, cooked meat and add it after the eggs are scrambled.

Check out more healthy/grain recipes at Shine Supper Club

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Quinoa Fried "Rice"

The grain has a natural crunch and nuttiness that adds so much to this dish.

Prep Time20

Cook Time10

Total Time30

Course: side dishes, skillet dinners, vegetarian dishes

Cuisine: Asian

Keyword: fried rice, quinoa

Servings: 6

Calories: 197kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

3/4 cup uncooked quinoa
1 1/2 cups water
1 tsp olive oil
3 eggs
1 medium onion thickly sliced
2 large garlic cloves minced
1/2 cup cooked peas
1 tsp dark sesame oil
3-4 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp vegetable oil for frying

Instructions

Place the quinoa, water and olive oil in a medium saucepan. Bring to boil, cover, reduce heat and cook until all the water is absorbed. If you are using a rice cooker, add the quinoa, water and olive oil and set to COOK (it is done when the rice cooker switches to WARM).
Heat the 2 tbs of vegetable oil in a large skillet or wok. Break eggs into pan and with a spatula, scramble the eggs. When eggs are almost set, add garlic and onion (and meat if you are adding). Stir fry until onion is almost translucent.
Add cooked quinoa, sesame oil and soy sauce. Stir. At this point taste the quinoa--you may have to add more soy sauce depending on your personal tastes. Stir in peas, and heat through.
Makes 3 hearty servings or 6 side dish servings.

Nutrition

Quinoa Fried Rice

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