Marinated Soy Chicken with Sesame Seeds

Recently I’ve been trying to get more skilled in different cuisines than the ones I usually cook. Not saying that I’ve fully mastered the Italian or Mediterranean cuisine. Not at all. I’m just interested in learning about other flavours and other ways to cook a meal. Mainly I’m focusing on Asian cuisine.

In March of this year I took an amazing trip to Vietnam and Cambodia which made me completely adore the various ingredients and methods they use in cooking. When back I tried my hand at making egg rolls which turned out to be a complete and utter disaster. But hey, isn’t that what learning is all about?

Disclaimer: in no way am I trying to claim that this marinated chicken is an Asian dish, however it is definitely influenced by the cuisine. Soy sauce, spring onions, chili peppers and sesame seeds can certainly be called staple ingredients in Southeast Asian Cuisine.

And I gotta say, what a great combination do they make. The chicken is marinated for a couple of hours in a sweet and sour soy sauce mix, making sure the meat is already softened before baking it in the oven. This makes for a proper meat-falling-off-the-bone chicken. Let’s be honest, isn’t that what we all love?

Marinated Soy Chicken with Sesame Seeds

Servings: 4
Time: 1,5 hours + 2-4 hours marinating
Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients for the marinade

600 grams (1,3 lbs) mix of chicken wings and thighs
2 garlic cloves
1 chili pepper
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp grated ginger
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup honey
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 can of tomato puree

Ingredients

30 grams (1 oz) sesame seeds
3 spring onions
1 lemon

Used kitchen appliances

Oven
Baking tray
Mixing bowl
Large bowl
Frying pan

Preparation

Place the chicken in the baking tray. Finely chop the garlic and chili pepper In the mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients for the marinade except for the tomato puree. Pour the marinade over the chicken and rub it in, or use a spoon to make sure all the chicken is covered by the sauce.
Let it marinade for at least 2 hours, but preferably a couple of hours longer if possible. Check every half hour to turn the chicken over and cover it with marinade.
Preheat the oven to 200C. Bake the chicken in the oven for about 1 hour, while basting it every 10 minutes.
Remove the chicken from the tray to a large bowl and cover. Add the tomato puree to the marinade and place back in the oven for about 15 minutes or until thickened.
In the meantime, cook the sesame seeds in the frying pan until golden. Stay with the seeds as they can easily get burned. Remove from the heat and set aside. Slice the spring onions. Cut the lemon in quarters.
Place the chicken back in the sauce for a last layer of marinade.
Serve the chicken with the sesame seeds and spring onion sprinkled over, and the lemon for extra sourness. Use the thickened marinade as a sauce for the chicken. Goes great with rice or served as a party food.