Cold Sesame Chicken Recipe (2024)

Fantastic - a keeper. But there is a real missed opportunity in the recipe. The broth left over is scrumptious! Threw in some chopped broccoli, sliced carrots, mushrooms, scallions, and few cellophane noodles for a tasty soup and a complete meal with the chicken.

Good recipe. I'd probably reduce the water in step 2 to slightly more than required to cover the chicken, so that after 45 minutes, one would have a flavorful broth that could be used to cook rice, rather than discarded. (To answer Mr. Golden's question, I would cover the pot to prevent evaporation.)Chilling the chicken in ice water is superfluous- while green vegetables are chilled after blanching, chicken leg parts aren't time-sensitive after 45 minutes' simmering. What's the hurry?

Update: This way was great, esp. that I didn't have to watch the pot and the meat came out perfectly tender and well-flavored. I followed the recipe in all respects except that I placed the seasoned chicken legs in the IP in layers by two, added the additional aromatics, then nearly covered with cold water. I set the IP on Pressure Cook for 0 minutes and let it do an NPR for as long as it took me to run to the store (about 33 minutes; not sure it mattered after 25).

Is the pot covered while simmering?

Is the skin left on?

I think bringing the broth to a boil first for a few minutes and then adding the chicken for around 10 minutes on high simmer and then turning it off and covering it for 45 minutes makes the chicken much more tender and flavor infused.

I was in a hurry so I purchased a cooked chicken, cut it into large pieces and topped with the glaze. Chopped,peanuts, sesame seeds, and cilantro completed the dish. Served it over Mark Bittman’s cold sesame noodles with crunchy vegetables (NYT recipe)Quick, easy, and delish!

I shred the thigh meat for a higher glaze to meat ratio, and serve on a bed of Napa cabbage salad lightly tossed with a sesame oil dressing. Delicious!

I'm wondering if I could poach these legs in the Instant Pot. I just read about a method that calls for a 0-minute cooking time and a long pressure release.

Did anyone have trouble reducing the glaze ? It took a lot longer than 5 minutes.

My husband and I both loved this. The only changes I'd make is to use less sugar in the glaze. I made 2x as much for dipping and serve it with lettuce and smashed cucumbers. yum

My understanding is that using a lot of water is important to the Chinese method of cooking chicken, because it is needed to retain the heat that accomplishes the actual cooking. On the other hand, it is possible that Mr. Tanis' version, keeping the pot on a very gentle simmer, obviates the necessity. Mr. Tanis, what's your thought?

Made another batch. This time the glaze thickened up. Used another tablespoon or sugar and boiled on very high heat. Yum yum yum. Great dish.

For tenderest chicken from my Cantonese neighbor: Put enough water in a big pot to cover a whole ~3-1/2# chicken. Add ginger root,chopped onion, salt. Bring to rolling boil. Add chicken & with lid off bring again to rolling boil. Put lid on & remove pot from heat. On counter lay out a couple big towels, set pot on towels & wrap ends of towels over pot to cover well. Let sit 1 hr. Remove lid, cool down for 30 min. Put plate over chicken to hold down, lid back on, refrigerate. So tender!

Am I the only one that was disgusted by the grey meat and slimy skin. I doubled the glaze and had to reduce for 30 minutes and added more sugar to get it to thicken. Even after the chicken was glazed it looked unappetizing. Maybe I shouldn’t have used wings and drumetts. I couldn’t serve it to my guests.

Huge hit! The boneless chicken thighs were moist and so flavorful. The glaze is what made this 5*! I'll bump the volume on that up next time. Nice kick! Sliced thick, fanned, drizzled with glaze, and garnished w/ (very finely!) diced serrano pepper, peanuts, toasted sesame seeds and thinly sliced scallion greens looked good. Don't make the serrano pepper optional. Nice pairing (use the leftover broth!): https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1021485-one-pan-orzo-with-spinach-and-feta

My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed this recipe! Our glaze was thinner than it probably should have been but still delicious. Would perhaps slightly reduce the amount of cayenne for next time. And great idea from another comment to save the water used for cooking the chicken! We served our chicken on rice and it was great for soaking up some of the glaze.

pretty good, but I would double the glaze next time. I used the broth to cook pasta, and it was nicely flavored.

I omitted the 2 tbs sugar the first time I made this and it was a hit. Curious about it the second time and it was a disaster because it was so sweet. Looking forward to making it again without the sugar.

I keep the broth/cooking liquid, strain it and cook Chinese noodles in it. Then serve them cold with the chicken.

Great dish, the remaining broth is gold. With no peanuts on hand, I added some chunky peanut butter to the glaze and it worked beautifully.

The chicken was great, I used drummettes. Let the chicken and glaze cool before brushing it on, otherwise all the chicken sticks together. The real hit, though, was the broth. I reduced it after removing the chicken, then froze it. Later I made soup. I added chopped chicken and udon noodles and topped it with sliced green onions. Amazing flavor for a cold winter day!

We didn’t like this at all. I used thighs. 45 minutes was way too long so in the end, the chicken was over cooked. The thighs were unattractive.If I did a recipe like this again, I would prepare chicken breasts in a manner similar to Hainanese chicken (a much more delicate preparation) and then possibly use this sauce after the chicken had cooled and been sliced.

Delightful. Old Pressure cooker(PC), thighs low pressure about 25 min then pressure release naturally. Followed suggestion to make a light tasty broth with sliced cremini mushrooms, carrots, broccoli florets & rice vermicelli noodles in PC couple of minutes then quick release. Only change, 2 sliced jalapenos p/o serrano, which still added quite a punch with nicely spiced glaze(doubled or more cayenne). Fabulous dish. Cool night made warm broth followed by cold sesame chicken welcome.

Six boneless thighs to weigh 4 lbs? I have 9 boneless thighs from Whole Foods and they weight less than 3 lbs. I am trying to decide if I should go back to the store and buy more for my 7 guests. Did any one else wonder about this?

This is the most disappointing recipe that I ever made from my NYT Cookbook. I used thigh meat to make the chicken portion of the dish. It came out rather dry. The sauce was too thin despite my cooking it for close to ten minutes. Perhaps some cornstarch should be added to make it thicker or maybe much less broth should be used. The garnish did succeed in hiding the dish a bit. The flavor was decent but somewhat disappointing. I will not repeat this dish.

Excellent! Yes, keep the broth for soups or stews. While the recipe is for cold chicken, this is really good hot too! Enjoy!

Double the glaze. You will not be disappointed.

This chicken, served cold with cucumbers, cilantro, and lime over warm rice made lunch a feast. The glaze never really thickened up, but it was still so delicious--you can't skip it. Four pounds of bone-in thighs ended up = about nine thighs for me. I added in a few szechuan peppercorns, an extra star anise, and a little Thai chili powder. Also, strain and save! the! broth! Even if you just heat up some hungover instant noodles in it. You're worth it.

What is a substitute for five spice powder?