China - Sesame Chicken

This is my very favorite Chinese American food. When I order Chinese take out, nine times out of ten, I'll order this. Well, OK, ten times out of ten! I absolutely love it! Mitch has been asking me for months to make this, so this is for you, Mitch! I hope you like it! I made it for my family when we all got together to watch the Opening Ceremonies and everyone loved it! I think your family will love it too!




Chicken
4 chicken breasts, cut into cubes
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon sherry wine
pinch of Chinese five spice powder (optional)
2 drops sesame oil
cornstarch, to coat
vegetable oil or peanut oil (for frying)

Sauce
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tbs toasted sesame oil
1 tsp ground ginger
2 ts chopped garlic
2 tbs brown sugar
1 dash red chili pepper flakes
2 tbs cornstarch (or more if you want a thicker sauce)

sesame seeds (to garnish)
sliced green onions (to garnish)

prepared rice
steamed broccoli


Combine chicken ingredients except cornstarch and let marinate for at least 30 minutes in the fridge.
Drain chicken, (discard marinade) and toss pieces of chicken in cornstarch until coated. Deep fry chicken in hot oil until cooked through. Remove from pan and keep warm in oven while making the sauce.
Combine all sauce ingredients EXCEPT cornstarch in a sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium heat.
Mix cornstarch with a little cold water in a cup until dissolved, then slowly add to the sauce mixture on the stove and heat until thickened to your liking. Gently toss chicken and steamed broccoli spears in sauce until everything is coated. Spoon over cooked rice. Garnish with a sprinkling of sesame seeds and chopped green onion.

Tips:
I like the sauce to be really thick and gooey, so I add extra cornstarch when I'm thickening the sauce.
Use the toasted sesame oil sparingly. A little goes a long way. If you add too much, it'll overpower the rest of the flavors. The same goes for the crushed red pepper flakes. You just want a little shake, even just a pinch.
When I made it, I didn't have any sherry wine, so I just used white wine in the marinade and it was great!