Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken

Don’t you just love eating that cheap, MSG-heavy Asian food at the mall? When I was little, it was my favorite meal. Now, it smells and tastes good…but doesn’t feel good….immediately after.

I’m not sure what, exactly, makes that mall food so evil for one’s entire body. Especially when you can easily make those foods at home for less money and without any of the repercussions. Anyhow, this meal offers all the pleasure of Asian flavors in a way that is guilt-free and risk-averse.

My Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken makes me feel like such a mom. It involves a Crock Pot, is healthy, makes large quantities and is pleasing for little people. I even found it on some mom blog that posts recipes on Pinterest. But in my never-ending pursuit of slow-cooker recipes, I charged ahead into momland and will never come back.

My only complaint is that the maximum cooking time is 4 hours. This working gal needs something that can slow-cook for at LEAST 9 hours, preferably 10. Do most people just come home at lunch and put the Crock Pot on? People take lunch breaks? I don’t get it. So I made this over the weekend, when a rainy day kept me inside with other endeavors: baking sandwich bread, pasta frittatas and a lovely spicy pork dish with black-eyed peas.

I made a few adaptations to this (I will definitely be trying more of their recipes!)…

Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts (thighs would be fine too)
• Salt and pepper
• 1 cup honey
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1/4 cup ketchup (surprise! don’t judge – just do it)
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 T toasted sesame oil
• 4 teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in 6 Tablespoons water
• Sesame seeds, for garnish
• Chopped green onion, for garnish

Season both sides of chicken lightly with salt and pepper, place flat into Crock Pot. Scatter onion over the top. In a small bowl, whisk together honey, soy sauce, ketchup, oil, garlic, sesame oil and pepper flakes. Pour over chicken. Cook on low for 3-4 hours or on high 1 1/2 – 2 1/2 hours, or until chicken is cooked through and shreds easily (mine cooked 3.5 hours). Remove chicken from crock pot, leave sauce. Dissolve 4 teaspoons of cornstarch in 6 tablespoons of water and pour into crock pot. Stir to combine with sauce. Replace lid and cook sauce on high for ten more minutes or until slightly thickened. Shred chicken into bite size pieces, then return to pot and toss with sauce before serving. Serve, sprinkled with sesame seeds and scallions.

The honey plus ketchup add the right sticky sweetness that you expect from a good teriyaki-type dish. So yummy! Sweet and savory and satisfying. Wonderful over rice, as we had it, or noodles. Even in taco shells would be good.

Enjoy, friends! xoxo

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Chicken teriyaki

When my sister and I were growing up, we naturally followed mother on her regular Costco trips. Costco has helped moms feed their kids for years, and one of our favorite treats was what we called “Costco Chicken.” It was a recurring stand in which some lady with a hair net cooked chicken bites with that Yoshida teriyaki sauce on it. We were totally those annoying kids who just hang out around the food, begging for more and blocking others.

Up until this year, I still loved Costco Chicken and would cook it up over white sticky rice. Yum! However, my gentle roommate wasn’t so thrilled. In fact, I think the word he used was “hate.”

Which brings me to earlier this week, when I had a craving for Costco Chicken but was too tired to go to the store after work to buy the sauce. So I used whatever was in my cupboard and I must say it was deeeelish! It tasted restaurant-quality. Gentle roommate LOVED it, and I happily gobbled up leftovers at work the next day.

Write Gal’s Chicken Teriyaki:

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast or tenders, cut into bite-sized pieces

1/4 c. soy sauce

1 c. water

1/2 tsp ground ginger (sure, you could use fresh!)

1/4 tsp garlic powder (duh, you could use fresh, but who cares?)

5 T brown sugar

1 T honey

4 scallions, thinly sliced

2 T cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 c. cold water

Red pepper flakes

Cracked black pepper

toasted sesame seeds

In a small bowl, combine the ingredients – soy sauce through cornstarch mixture – until combined. Add red and black pepper to taste. In a large skillet over medium, heat a dash of oil. Stir-fry chicken until slightly browned, but not cooked through. Add the sauce mixture and stir to cook. Bring to boil and simmer until thickened and the chicken is cooked through.

Meanwhile, cook a pot of brown rice.

To serve, on a bed of rice, spoon over chicken and top with sesame seeds and more scallions, if you have them.

This dish has a nice combination of sweet and spicy, but feel free to add more garlic or pepper as you wish. But remember that this is a convenience food meant to mimic that craving you have for cheap Asian take-out. Don’t spend more time or money than you would at the local Panda Express.

Enjoy, friends! xoxo