Here's What Makes Jet Tila's Popular Sesame Chicken So Good

Jet Tila is the first to admit that sesame chicken is not exactly an old-school Chinese dish — it’s a modern one made popular in Chinese-American restaurants. But just because Jet didn’t grow up eating sesame chicken doesn’t mean he hasn’t grown to love it over the years (especially after a night out). The dish boasts an authentic Chinese ingredient: sesame.

In Chinese cooking, Jet explains, sesame is extremely versatile, comes in many forms (roasted, unroasted, paste) and can be used in both savory and sweet dishes. Cooking sesame chicken is similar to preparing orange chicken or sweet and sour chicken. All of these dishes, in Jet’s words, fall into one grand genre of food: sticky, crunchy, deliciousness. Now, Jet is letting us in on the best way to make his beloved sesame chicken at home — which is all about that delicate balance of crispy chicken, sauce and aromatics (no takeout required).

Sesame Shopping Tips From Jet

Here's how to get the maximum amount of sesame flavor, which, according to Jet, involves grabbing a few key ingredients at the store:

• White toasted sesame seeds: Jet let us in on a lesser-known fact: Untoasted sesame seeds have no sesame flavor whatsoever. Toasting them is what lures out all the incredible flavor and aroma. This is why buying toasted sesame seeds at the store, rather than toasting them at home, is going to give you the best possible flavor (and save you some time).
• Roasted sesame oil: This is key for building a beautiful sauce. However, heed Jet's warning: Not all sesame oil is created equal. For sesame chicken, Jet suggests toasted (or roasted) sesame oil, which boasts a rich, dark color. Yes, the toasted rule still applies: Sesame flavor is in the toastiness. While this type of oil is normally used sparingly, you’ll need more than usual to give your chicken maximum flavor. Note: Don’t use sesame oil for starting a pan or wok (or for frying), as it has a low smoke point and is very volatile.
• Dark soy: There are various types of soy sauce, so finding the right one can be a somewhat daunting task. Jet offers a few pointers to remember when shopping for soy sauce
  • 1. Chinese soy sauce is required for sesame chicken (since it's a Chinese dish).
  • 2. Dark soy sauce is thicker than light soy sauce and more viscous. It contains less salt and carries more of a molasses taste (perfect for dishes that require a darker sauce).
• Chicken thighs: For sesame chicken, boneless chicken thighs are your best bet. They hold lots of moisture and just enough fat to withstand a hot pan — as Jet says, they're pretty fry-bulletproof.

Time to Cook

Step 1: Prep the chicken thighs, which often have extra fat or connective tissue attached. Jet cuts those off, cuts each tile of chicken thigh into 1-inch slices, then cuts those slices into 1-inch evenly diced pieces. Then, he places them into a bowl. To avoid cross-contamination, he recommends cutting chicken on one (plastic or gel) board and vegetables on a different board.

Marinate, Flavor, Create the Coat

Pour water, sesame oil, chicken powder and oyster sauce into the bowl, massaging the cubes for around 30 seconds. This gets some flavor into the chicken. The water will help develop the crust.

Speaking of the crust, it’s breading time. While the chicken marinates, create Jet's version of a crispy “dredge” (a dry flour mix used to coat and cook the protein, as well as form the crust). Combine cornstarch and flour (which gives it a crunch).

Combine It All: How to Make It Extra Crispy

Take the marinated chicken and roll it around in the dredge bowl. The moisture of the chicken grabs bits of cornstarch and flour, which is what will fry up and turn it into crispy bits. No need to make your pieces even. The more uneven it is, the crispier it’ll be post-fry. For an even thicker and crispier crust, Jet creates little divots in the flour mix and fills them with water. Then, he puts the already coated chicken into the water divet, getting it moist again, and rolls it around in more flour. Once all of the chicken is heavily coated, Jet puts it on a sheet pan and sets aside the flour mix.

Jet's Special Sauce

In a separate bowl, Jet combines ketchup, honey, vinegar and brown sugar. In an even smaller bowl, he mixes equal parts cornstarch and water, creating a slurry, then adds the mixture to the first bowl. Once it’s all combined, he adds dark soy sauce, more sesame oil, chicken powder and oyster sauce. (Jet's pro tip: If you like this dish, you can premake the sauce and have it on hand by adding five to 10 times more than what you’ve used here and storing it in a squeeze bottle.) Jet prepares the aromatic aspects of the dish using garlic and ginger. He chops the garlic up into small, chunky bits — so it fries up delicious and doesn’t burn — and minces the ginger into tiny pieces.

Frying Time: Picking the Right Oil

Preheat the frying oil in a large Dutch oven (according to Jet, 375 degrees should do it). Jet recommends using a neutral oil like vegetable, corn, canola or avocado rather than sesame or olive.

It’s almost time to fry it all up — but first, make sure your fry station is neat and efficient. Jet always places the Dutch oven right in the middle of the burner, as close to the sheet of ready-to-fry breaded chicken cubes as possible.

Remember that extra flour? It’s time to use it, tempura-making style. Jet pours a little water into the flour, creating a thin, slurry-like batter to dunk the breaded-up chicken cubes in before placing them in the frying oil. This adds an extra layer of crunch over the crust coating and locks in the crispiness. Jet places each piece in the oil, which should always be bubbling. As the pieces fry up, he uses a spider to break them apart, allowing the individual pieces to fry (rather than letting them turn into one big monster piece). After about four to six minutes, remove the pieces using a wire rack, ensuring peak crispiness — then repeat until all the pieces are fried.

Wok It Up

It's time to finish the thing. Add oil, the ginger and garlic pieces, and the sauce. Once the water evaporates and the sauce thickens, add the chicken. Now is the final chance to add more sesame flavor (more sesame oil and seeds) — as Jet always does.

And just like that, this crunchy treat has reached its final form. The sesame chicken is ready at last — and it’s way better than takeout.