Slow Cooking

Every 5 or 6 six years I remember that I have a slow cooker, and today was the most recent occurence. I made this chicken recipe, which was delicious except that the sauce didn't thicken up as promised, so it was more like a juicy consistency. Maybe next time I will boil it on the stove for a bit. There was also quite a bit of sauce/juice (likely because it didn't thicken up?), so I think I would up the chicken a bit so as to have more leftovers. (It called for 6–8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, and I used 8, but 10 or 12 wouldn't be a bad idea. It also said you could use 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts instead, but I can't imagine why you would want to do that.) Finally, it's called "Sesame Chicken," but the only thing sesame-ish about it is the toasted sesame seed garnish, which was barely noticeable. Maybe try a hint of toasted sesame oil in place of some of the vegetable oil...?

Slow Cooker Sesame Chicken

6–8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs or 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts or a combination
½ cup honey
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup soy sauce
½ cup rice wine vinegar
¼ cup ketchup
2 tablespoons vegetable  oil (Maybe replace some of this with toasted sesame oil next time, like 2 teaspoons or so?)
1–2 tablespoons chili paste (I used about 2 teaspoons of sriracha.)
¼ cup minced scallions
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 teaspoons cornstarch
⅓ cup water
4 to 6 cups cooked rice (We used brown.)
Sesame seeds, for garnish
3 scallions, sliced, for garnish (Whoops, didn't have any scallions left for garnish.)

Season the chicken with  salt and pepper and put into the slow cooker.

Combine the honey, brown sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, ketchup, oil, chili paste, scallions, and garlic in a bowl; mix well. Pour over the chicken. Cook on low for 3–4 hours. (I turned the chicken pieces once so they'd absorb more flavor.)

Remove the chicken, leaving the sauce in the slow cooker. Cool the chicken slightly and shred into bite-size pieces.

In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in the water and add the mixture to the slow cooker; stir to combine with the sauce. Cover and cook until slightly thickened, 5 to 10 minutes. (As I mentioned above, maybe next time I'll put it in a saucepan and cook it harder on the stovetop so it'll thicken up better.)

Return the chicken to the sauce and stir to coat. Divide the rice among serving dishes and top with chicken. Garnish with sesame seeds and scallions.

Comments

[Elena]

I was going to suggest adding some cornstarch diluted in water to help with the thickness problem, but I see you already did that!

[Wendy]

Since I ditched my Crockpot, I bet I could do this in a cast-iron casserole on the stovetop. It does sound tasty and easy. Does the recipe specify anything about the chili paste?

[Karen]

The recipe said "I used sambal oelek," but I (Karen) used sriracha. I couldn't taste it all, so maybe I'll inch closer to 1 tablespoon next time. I'm sure you could do it in a pot on the stove.