Sesame Oil Chicken 麻油鸡
Sesame oil chicken with lots of thinly sliced ginger
One day, I was walking past my neighbour’s home along the corridor and my paparazzi nose picked up an amazing aroma and I knew what it was instantly – sesame oil chicken. This makes me crave for this simple childhood dish and I simply couldn’t get the dish out of my head. I asked my mum how she cooked hers last time and she taught me her simple recipe over the phone. When I tried out the dish, my whole house was also filled with the wonderful aroma which I experienced walking past my neighbour’s home. The aroma of the sesame oil and ginger is so familiar and so therapeutic. Best of all, this is a simple dish which is easy to prepare with minimal key ingredients – just chicken, sesame oil and ginger.
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Ingredients
(Serves 2-3)
- 1/2 chicken (about 600g), cut to small pieces (you can also use mid-sized drumlettes or chicken thighs)
- 2 tbsp sesame oil and 1 tbsp olive oil
- 5 slices ginger, stacked together and sliced thinly
- Chinese cooking wine (optional) – Hua Diao Jiu (花雕酒) or Shao Xing Jiu (绍兴酒)water mixture
- 50ml water mixed with 1 tsp dark soy and 1/2 tsp light soy (stir well)Directions
1. Heat sesame oil and olive oil, then add ginger strips. Stir fry till fragrant.
2. Add chicken pieces and stir fry for a few minutes.
3. Add water mixture and stir to make sure the chicken pieces are well coated with the sauce. Cover and simmer for about 5 minutes.
4. Open lid, add more water if the mixture is drying out, use kitchen tongs to flip chicken pieces to the other side, cover and simmer for another 5 minutes.
5. When the chicken is cooked, add a splash of Chinese wine and after a few seconds you can smell the wonderful aroma of the wine evaporating. Off the flame. Garnish with coriander and serve with warm steamed rice.
Cooking Notes
1. The simmering time will depend on the size of the chicken pieces – the smaller the pieces, the shorter the cooking time.
2.Instead of Chinese wine, you can also add hard liquor like D.O.M or X.O.
3. This is popular food for women on confinement (one month after childbirth). The confinement recipe usually contains more sesame oil, ginger and wine because it is believed that “heaty” foods are beneficial for women recuperating from childbirth.
4. My mum always add some canned button mushrooms though I don’t really like it. If you like them, you can add them during the last few minutes of simmering.
Similar Recipes
- Three Cups Chicken (三杯鸡)
- Chicken & Mee Suah in Red Glutinous Rice Wine (红槽鸡面线)
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{ 71 comments… read them below or add one }
I can already imagine the smell and the taste of this wonderful dish!
wow! i could eat many bowls of rice with this dish :D
excellent for you now… you have excuse to add loads of sesame oil, ginger and wine! ;)
Love the aroma of sesame oil and ginger. Such an easy recipe too.
Maybe I can cook a chicken liver version ? Wonder if it works.
Still can’t figure out which part is the liver … is it the “gian”? U should try and see if it works!
I’m going to try this recipe during this weekend! :)
Let me know how it goes ;)
This is my favorite dish….mmmmm yummy! I like ginger & chinese wine very much.
yes Chinese cooking essentials and my fave combination :)
I like this dish! But I can’t find Hua Diao Jiu here. Have been looking for it everywhere :(
aww no Chinese grocery shops in Jakarta? You can also substitute with other hard liquor like X.O. or D.O.M … but you can leave out the wine too. The ginger and sesame oil is fragrant on their own!
haha! I am also craving for this dish! and to think that it is very easy to cook! ^^ This is definitely on top of my list! :))
I am loving this. What brand of dark soy are you using? We always use mushroom flavored dark soy, but it tends to darken cooking a lot.
I’m using Tai Hua superior dark soy sauce. My family has been using this brand for ages.
simple and delicious meal, appetizing too. I still haven’t eaten my dinner! what a torture…
shouldn’t view food blogs before meals ;)
Yummy! I couldn’t resist this simple and aromatic dish too.
My children would love this. They are crazy over sesame oil. I love the beautiful aroma, too. This would be really good with rice…yum.
I love this dishes…my favo dish.
Sometimes the easy-to-prepare dishes are the tastiest! And this is one of them!
simple dishes can be the most delicious! I was just craving for sesame ginger chicken the other day…your version looks great :)
nice dish.. i really love this dish and i eat a lot of rice with it.. haha..
so tasty and yes lots of rice to go with all that juice
I can imagine how great this smells as it simmers, and I love how few ingredients are involved!
Just splendid to have see thisd chicken dish, just lovely!
Thanks for sharing this nice and not complicated recipe. Gives me new idea what to cook :)
Happy cooking ;)
it looks so nice…very good pictures
I could almost taste it through my screen!! This is a nice one!
Wow that looks really good, almost like store-bought. Drizzle that sauce on top of some rice and top it off with the chicken – perfect meal!
oh yes, the sauce to me is the good part … I waste not a drop of it for drizzling on my rice or even “drink” on its own :P
I seldom cook sesame oil dish at home, as it tends to make my kitchen oily. But I love sesame oil dishes, including this. Usually my mom will cook for me when I go over for lunch. :)
Noticed that you add so little of soy sauce. Was it salty enough?
yes definitely salty enough for me, and I tend to like salty food. maybe because the recipe did not use a lot of chicken and water :)
Hi Wiffy -this seriously looks amazing… such a simple dish to prepare too – I’d love to give it a go this week.
Hope you’ll enjoy it :)
Wiffy, I love this dish, my mil always cook for us, yum yum.
lucky of you to have someone cook this for you :)
mmmmm… so simple yet so good. everything good in food really boils down to the essentials and especially those with memories of childhood and family
I love anything with sesame oil. You know what I crave for now?…. Pork liver soup with ginger, sesame oil and chinese wine… don’t know why – seeing your dish reminds me of that!
same type of comfort food. now you reminded me of another “forgotten” childhood fave. Must make that soon too! ;)
Sesame chicken….what a nutrients-loaded and delish treat!
Love the aroma of sesame oil chicken. I can eat a big bowl of rice with this dish. :)
Canned mushrooms have that “tinny” flavor. I prefer shiitake or oyster mushrooms
also they are very slippery so I don’t like the texture hehe
yummmm.. wiffy, I would love to have the same aroma in our kitchen! Thanks for reminding me of this dish! Got to try it out soon.
I love this sesami chicken, used to eat loads of it during my postnatal confinement. My hubby loves it too :)
Looking at this I already can imagine the aroma of sesame oil. yum.
never get wrong with sesame oil! esp with ginger added.
I also had this dish after my delivery, mine looks drier not as much sauce as yours, it was said it is very good after you have given birth.
I’m going to make this tomorrow night, my (Taiwanese) husband will be thrilled!
You make me hungry for this dish… Hahaha…
Just hopped over from Ann’s blog. You do have a great blog and full of nice clicks! Sesame oil is also one of my favourites, just love the aroma! Your dish is so rich with sesame oil and wine.
2 tbsp sesame oil – is this too little?
it’s enough for me for the amount of chicken I used but feel free to adjust the recipe to suit your liking.
I LOVE YOUR BLOG!!!!!Js married recently and goggling for recipes everyday. I am so glad i found ur blog! Ur photos are AWESOME! They all make me drool. Keep up the good work! :D
Hi, this is one of my comfort food, and your version is even better than what I am used to!
I can’t find 花雕酒 or 绍兴酒 in London, but recently chance upon Ginger Wine in the local supermarket – wanna tell u (and your other readers) that it works wonderfully with your recipe!
WOW! I just tried it. It’s amazingly easy and absolutely yummy! Thank you wiffy!
Wow I just tried it for my dinner! Wonderful! *thumbs up*
If you dont like button mushrooms … try with black fungus… soak the fungus 1st with water, then rinse it n fry it together with the chicken.. yummy.. n good for blood circulation also :D
that’s great idea – I think chicken and black fungus is a winning combi. Thanks for sharing :))
Hi, I would like to add Tou Kee. But I have no idea which brand would be good & where to buy in SIn ? Can u advise? Thanks! :)
Hi Wiffy,
Just cooked this for dinner tonight and the kids are liking it so far. May I know what brand of sesame oil you use? Thanks!
Hi AC, currently using NTUC brand of white sesame oil
hi wiffy,
which kind of dark soy sauce are you using?
the thick type which is a bit sweet or the watery type, which is abit salty?
Hi xiuhui, I use the watery/salty type.
Thanks for the wonderful receipe!!! Just tried it and it is so easy and fast to cook…
Can i ask if we wan the meat to be soak the taste up is to simmer it longer?
Also what can we add to the dish? Mushrooms?
Thanks!!!
Eugenel
Hello
What is alternative not to use Wine, because Im Muslim & how many spoon for it?
Thank you.
Hi, you don’t need to substitute, just omit it. It will still taste good, sometimes even Chinese omitted the wine for various reasons.
You might want to be add some starch (淀粉）It will make the sauce creamy and yummy.
Tried out this recipe. It’s very easy to follow and the taste is superb.
Hihi can i use normal cooking oil instead of olive oil?any difference?thanks.