Sesame Chicken With Cashews and Dates

Hey I just have to ask, is it even remotely possible that garlic put into a very hot oil will only turn slightly Brown at the edges after two to three minutes, as described in Direction number one of the recipe?? I think the garlic would be absolutely burnt to a crisp and therefore ruin the entire Dish as it would be just a bitter mess. Any comments on this by anyone?

Tried this again because it was so promising. made modifications based on my first attempt and suggestions here. 1. I used 1.5 lbs of chicken. It was more appropriate for the amount of sauce. 2. I minced the ginger. The coins were a bit too strong 3. I doubled the amount of dates to increase the sweetness which was lacking in the last iteration 4. Smoked Sesame oil has a very low smoke point. Use another oil in the pan and add half sesame oil when you add the chicken. Turned out great!

Usually toasted sesame oil is used as a seasoning and regular sesame oil is used for sautéing. Here toasted is used for stir frying. Is this intentional?

Crazy good and surprisingly doable for a weeknight. My husband and 3yo LOVED IT. The dates might seem weird, but they dissolve into an earthy, sticky sweetness that's so much better than the sugar-laden versions of sesame chicken you get from your local take-out joint. I'm gonna make this again. And again.

Even on my bottle of toasted sesame oil, it is suggested to use it as a seasoning and not as a stir-fry oil because it has a very low smoke point. I used safflower oil in smaller quantities, and then added a tablespoon of sesame oil with the wine and soy sauce. The dish was absolutely delicious, served with basmati rice and broccolini.

Very easy, fast and tasty. It's a keeper for a fast weeknight meal. Per my personal tastes I added additional garlic, ginger and chilis. Perfect. Also, to have more vegetables in the meal I tossed in some parboiled green beans toward the end and it it worked well. Next time also some cut up red bell pepper for color and taste. I was skeptical of the toasted sesame oil for sautéing but it worked great.

Note that the basil is not described as "packed" so 3 cups would be 2 ounces, if that. Note also that Melissa suggests cilantro as an option or a combination of herbs. The point is to add a fresh green herbal note to lighten the sweetness of the dish. Add what you like and as much or as little as you like. I use scallion greens, cilantro, flat leaf parsley and mint in a random combination totaling about 2 cups for a full recipe.

Used peanuts instead of cashews (broke college student on a budget- nuts are so expensive!) and thought it tasted great! Love the taste of the fresh basil with the sauce.

I think you're right. I would put garlic after scallions & ginger are almost done. Garlic gets bitter if it gets too brown.

This is on regular rotation in my household. We usually add broccoli, green beans, and/or carrots but otherwise make this as written. We make enough to have leftovers the next day or two - it's easy to reheat.

Delicious! But it was not finished in 20 min. It took that long to slice the dates; clean and cut up the chicken, scallions and additional vegetable (asparagus); peel and slice the ginger, etc. Great flavor imparted by cooking in toasted sesame oil. Minced rather than simply smashing the garlic. Wish I'd been equally prescient about chopping up the ginger, because biting into a "coin" can be startling. Asparagus worked. Could also imagine adding broccoli or cut up spinach or kale.

3 CUPS of fresh basil? Really? Seems like a huge amount of herbs for a dish that serves 4 people.

aside from seasoning the chicken a bit, i would also double the sauce next time. it's very tasty, but there is definitely not enough of it!

add toasted sesame seeds

You should, Jules. Thanks for noting. I've edited the recipe to include that.