Sesame Oil Chicken

Ingredients

The chicken

• 1.2 kgchicken pieces
• on the bone, chopped small
• thigh and drumstick are best

The base

• 80 gfresh ginger
• sliced thinly, skin on
• 4 tablespoonsblack sesame oil
• toasted, see the notes

The liquid

• 500 mlrice wine
• michiu or Shaoxing
• see the notes
• 200 mlwater
• or more rice wine
• 1 teaspoonsalt
• or to taste

Sometimes added

• dried goji berries
• sliced mushrooms
• sesame oil noodles
• to serve

Directions

1. Check it rather than guessing. Heat the sesame oil in a heavy pot. Use a low heat rather than high. It should warm rather than smoke. Add the sliced ginger to the oil. Slice it thinly rather than thickly. Thin slices fry evenly through. Leave the skin on all the slices.
2. Fry the ginger until curled and dry. Give it about eight full minutes. Take it off before that happens. Add the chicken pieces to the pot. Turn them all in the ginger oil.
3. Let them colour up a little first. Give them about five full minutes. Pour the rice wine into the pot. Cut with water it is much gentler. That happens if the pot is very hot. Keep a lid ready to smother it. Add the wine away from an open flame.
4. Take the pot off the heat if unsure. Stand well back as you pour it in. Keep your face well away from it. Bring it up to a gentle simmer. Simmer it for about forty minutes. A covered pot keeps more alcohol.
5. Simmer it uncovered to reduce it. It should reduce by about a third. Add more water if it goes too far. It should read seventy-five degrees.
6. Cook it for longer if there is. Taste it and then add the salt now. Season it only right at the end. Add it gradually and taste again. It should be savoury rather than salty.
7. Stir goji berries in near the end. Add them for the last ten minutes. Judging it takes a careful look. Ladle it out into deep warm bowls. Serve plenty of the liquid with it. It is also eaten in cold weather.

Technique

• This dish contains a great deal of rice wine, and while long simmering removes much of the alcohol, it does not remove all of it — measurable amounts remain after hours, which is well established. That matters because the dish is traditionally given to new mothers, many of whom are breastfeeding, and advice on alcohol and breastfeeding varies; anyone concerned should ask a doctor. The wine can be cut with water or stock and the pot simmered longer and uncovered, all of which reduce it further, though none removes it entirely. The atlas gives the facts and the options rather than telling anyone what to do.
• Use black toasted sesame oil rather than light untoasted oil, which is mild and genuinely not a substitute — this is a main ingredient carrying the whole dish rather than a seasoning. It burns readily and turns bitter the instant it does, so heat it gently on a low heat until it warms rather than smokes.
• The wine may catch light if the pot is very hot: add it away from an open flame or with the pot off the heat, stand back as you pour, keep your face away and have a lid ready to smother it. It burns off quickly on its own.

Substitutions

• Some versions use rice wine alone for a stronger headier dish and others cut it with water, which is gentler and lower in alcohol; both are genuinely done, so choose according to who is eating.
• Goji berries stirred in for the last ten minutes soften and sweeten slightly and are common in confinement cooking; sliced mushrooms are another addition.

Variations

• Fry the sliced ginger a full eight minutes until it curls, darkens and dries out, which concentrates its flavour and is the whole foundation of the dish — but take it off before it blackens. The skin is left on, which is traditional and holds together better in cooking.
• The chicken is chopped small on the bone, which gives far more flavour — ask the butcher to do it, since chopping through bone needs a cleaver and real skill and should not be attempted with a kitchen knife.
• Zuo yuezi is the postpartum confinement month, a genuine and living practice in which new mothers rest and are fed warming foods. The atlas records that framing, which comes from Chinese medical thought, without endorsing it medically — recording what people believe is reporting, and claiming it is medically true would not be.

History

A pillar of zuo yuezi, the month of postpartum confinement, when new mothers are fed sesame oil and rice wine to restore warmth.

Frequently asked questions

What is Sesame Oil Chicken?

Sesame Oil Chicken is a soup & stew from Taiwan: chicken simmered with ginger, black sesame oil and rice wine until warming and heady. A pillar of zuo yuezi, the month of postpartum confinement, when new mothers are fed sesame oil and rice wine to restore warmth.

How long does Sesame Oil Chicken take to make?

Sesame Oil Chicken takes 20 minutes of preparation and 50 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Sesame Oil Chicken?

Yes, within limits. Some versions use rice wine alone for a stronger headier dish and others cut it with water, which is gentler and lower in alcohol; both are genuinely done, so choose according to who is eating. Goji berries stirred in for the last ten minutes soften and sweeten slightly and are common in confinement cooking; sliced mushrooms are another addition.

What is the most important thing to get right in Sesame Oil Chicken?

Check it rather than guessing. Heat the sesame oil in a heavy pot. Use a low heat rather than high. It should warm rather than smoke. Add the sliced ginger to the oil. Slice it thinly rather than thickly. Thin slices fry evenly through. Leave the skin on all the slices.