Sesame Chicken Stir-Fry

Angela and James are official. As in, moving-in-together official, which in Lourdes's worldview is one step below married and one step above sin, but she's holding her tongue because James eats everything she cooks and that buys significant goodwill in the Santos household. He came to dinner at Lourdes's on Sunday — his fourth time — and he helped clear the dishes without being asked, which made Lourdes's eyebrows rise in the specific way that means "this man was raised correctly."

I like James. He's an electrical engineer, Korean-American, grew up in Fairbanks, which means he understands Alaska the way you can only understand it if you've survived a Fairbanks winter, where it hits negative forty and your car battery gives up and your will to live negotiates terms. He's quiet, steady, the kind of person who listens more than he talks and when he talks, it's worth hearing. He reminds me a little of Reynaldo — not in specifics, but in quality. That calm, competent presence of a man who doesn't need to fill every silence.

I made chicken inasal for the dinner — grilled chicken marinated in vinegar, calamansi, lemongrass, and annatto oil. It's a Visayan dish, from the Western Visayas region where Iloilo is, so it's technically our ancestral food even though Lourdes's version is different from any other inasal I've ever had because Lourdes adapts everything. Her inasal has more garlic than the original and less sugar, because Lourdes believes sugar in savory food is a character flaw.

The chicken marinates for hours — overnight is best. Then you grill it, basting with the annatto oil until the skin turns a deep orange-red that's as much about color as flavor. The annatto doesn't taste like much — it's the vinegar and calamansi that do the heavy lifting — but the color is stunning, this burnt-sunset orange that makes the chicken look like it's been kissed by something tropical, which I suppose it has.

James ate three pieces. He looked at Angela with the expression of a man who has just realized that marrying into this family means unlimited Filipino food for life, and the expression was half amazement and half something softer. Angela saw it. I saw Angela see it. Lourdes saw all of us seeing it and said nothing, which is Lourdes's version of approval.

I drove home alone after dinner. The apartment was quiet. I made tea and sat on the couch and felt the particular ache of watching your younger sister find the thing you haven't found yet. It's not jealousy. It's not resentment. It's loneliness in a minor key. The kind that sits quietly in the corner and only speaks up at night.

The inasal was for Sunday and for Angela and James and for Lourdes’s quiet approval. But Monday is mine, and Monday calls for something faster — something I can make alone in a small kitchen without the hours of marinating, without the grill, without the whole warm occasion of it. This sesame chicken stir-fry is what I reached for: savory and a little nutty, done in the time it takes to finish a cup of tea and talk yourself into being okay. It’s not inasal, but it’s chicken, it’s warm, and some nights that’s exactly the right amount.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 cup broccoli florets
1 cup snap peas
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
3 green onions, thinly sliced
Cooked white rice, for serving

Instructions

Make the sauce. In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, honey, and cornstarch until smooth. Set aside.
Prep the chicken. Pat chicken slices dry with paper towels. Season lightly with salt and pepper.
Sear the chicken. Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large skillet or wok over high heat. Add chicken in a single layer and cook, undisturbed, for 2—3 minutes until golden. Flip and cook another 1—2 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
Cook the aromatics. Add remaining tablespoon of oil to the pan. Add garlic and ginger and stir-fry for 30 seconds until fragrant.
Add the vegetables. Add bell pepper, broccoli, and snap peas. Stir-fry over high heat for 3—4 minutes until just tender but still bright.
Combine and sauce. Return chicken to the pan. Pour sauce over everything and toss to coat. Cook for 1—2 minutes until sauce thickens and everything is well glazed.
Finish and serve. Remove from heat. Scatter sesame seeds and green onions over the top. Serve immediately over white rice.

Nutrition (per serving)

Sesame Chicken Stir-Fry — The Weeknight Chicken That Carries the Weight of a Sunday