London lunch box: Sticky sesame chicken with green salad

Laoise Casey is inspired by an old friend for this week's lunch box recipe
Laoise Casey8 August 2017

Often my favourite meals are those which are inspired by others. You know when someone sows a suggestion in your head about what you should eat? In these cases I’m quite happy to be susceptible. I’ve known my best friend, Sarah, since we were 12, which means we've enjoyed 20 years of friendship. She knows too much you see, so we’ll always be pals. One of our favourite things to do is to discuss food, what we’ve eaten, what we’re about to eat and what we could be eating. Sound familiar? Although she lives in Dublin we stay connected through food, messaging every day and planning lunches out for when I go back home to visit. This for me is a little glimpse of how food can link us to others. As a result a lot of my lunch boxes are based on our conversations.

This week she mentioned sticky sesame chicken and I couldn’t get it out of my head. Perhaps it’s my way of keeping anchored with home while I live in London. Either way, it made a delicious lunch box. Dredge chicken slices in cornflour then pan-fry before coating in a sweet and sharp sesame seed dressing. I find it easier to add the sesame seeds towards the end of cooking, mainly because I don’t have the patience to continuously watch them in the pan. They are fickle things, take your eyes off them for a mere second and they rapidly turn from golden brown to black.

I’ve added kale and green celery for a fresh contrast. You could also serve with rice, or noodles.

Ingredients (serves 2)

1 ½ tbsp olive oil

Juice of ½ a lemon

80g kale, roughly chopped

1 chicken breast, thinly sliced

1 tbsp cornflour

1 small red chilli, finely chopped (optional)

2 tsp soy sauce

1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

2 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp honey

20g sesame seeds

1 stick of celery, thinly sliced

Method

In a bowl, using your hands, rub ½ tbsp olive oil and the lemon juice into the kale, with a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Rubbing the kale helps it to soften and break down. Set aside to marinate for 30 minutes. If I’m bringing it to work I’ll leave it to sit in the fridge overnight.

Coat the chicken slices in the cornflour and shake gently to remove excess. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan on a medium-high heat. Once hot, add the chicken, season and cook until golden brown and cooked through, around 7 - 8 minutes. If using, add the chilli for the last 2 minutes of cooking.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine the soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, honey and half the sesame seeds. Take the pan off the heat, pour in the dressing and stir well to coat evenly. If you think it needs it add a splash of warm water. Serve the chicken on the kale with the celery and remaining sesame seeds sprinkled on top

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