If I’m in the mood for a simple protein that goes well with white rice, eating a chicken dish flavored with ginger and some other basic Asian ingredients has done the trick for me.
Below are some links to more details, including photos and tips:
My Story
I love the taste of ginger. When I found a recipe using this root on the same website as where I got one of the oxtail soup recipes that I previously made, I had to try it!
Inspiring Recipe
The recipe that I discovered was Ginger And Sesame Oil Chicken from Cooking With Lei’s website.
First Try
After getting some chicken thighs, I was ready to go!
Ingredients to Use
I began with about 1 1/4 pounds of chicken thighs, so I added a little more of all the other ingredients, except for the sugar. However, instead of adding about .16x more, I added about .25x more by mistake (the .25 probably came from the chicken weight).
What I ended up with for the adjusted ingredients were as follows:
Sauce
- 2 tablespoons + 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon oyster sauce
- 2 tablespoons + 1/2 teaspoon rice wine
- 2 tablespoons + 1/2 teaspoon water
Cooking
- 2 tablespoons + 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 16 slices ginger
Finishing
- 1 tablespoon + 1/4 teaspoon rice wine
- 1 tablespoon + 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
Steps to Prepare
I followed the three steps on the recipe, but cooked in a wok instead of a non-stick fry pan and turned the heat to high instead of leaving it at medium in the last step, so the liquid would reduce faster.
Time to Eat
After the sauce finally reduced in the wok, the chicken was ready to eat:
Recipe Rating
Below are the results of the recipe after the first tasting:
| # of Ingredients | Effort | $ / Serving | Try Again? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 |  | |  |
Because the chicken came out too salty and a little rubbery, I will have to re-make this recipe and hopefully it’ll be better next time.
Second Try
Knowing that the over-saltiness of the dish from the first attempt came from the extra soy sauce and oyster sauce, I will have to verify the ingredients needed for this try. Also, because reducing the sauce in the last step took a long time, I will need to figure out how not to overcook the chicken during this attempt.
Ingredients to Use
This time, I used 2 1/3 pounds of chicken thighs, so the adjusted ingredients were as follows:
Sauce
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 4 tablespoons + 1/2 teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon soy sauce
- 4 tablespoons + 1/2 teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon rice wine
- 4 tablespoons + 1/2 teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon water
- 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
Cooking
- 4 tablespoons + 1/2 teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon sesame oil
- 30 slices ginger
Finishing
- 2 tablespoons + 1/4 teaspoon rice wine
- 2 tablespoons + 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
Steps to Prepare
For the process, the only thing I changed as compared to the first try was in the last step. As I waited for the sauce to reduce, I occasionally moved the chicken to the side of the wok, away from the heat, in attempt not to overcook the chicken.
Time to Eat
Here’s a plate of chicken ready for tasting:
Recipe Rating
After making this dish the second time, the results were as follows:
| # of Ingredients | Effort | $ / Serving | Try Again? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | | | |
This dish definitely improved this time as it was no longer too salty nor rubbery. Though it probably wouldn’t be a recipe I’d go to often, I would keep it around for when I crave a savory, gingery flavor in my food.
Visually, this dish can use some more color, so next time, I’ll do the following:
Continuous Improvement
- Add some green onions to brighten up the dish!
Using this recipe where I had to convert the measurements of dry and wet ingredients that didn’t always result in a particular spoon size, I learned a couple of simple tricks to make the effort faster and more straightforward. The tips are as follows:
Lessons for Dumber Self
- Use measuring spoons for dry ingredients first, so they can be reused for wet ingredients without washing them first.
- Document the converted measurements before gathering the ingredients.
What will you do now?
Next Step for You
- Try the Ginger And Sesame Oil Chicken recipe from Cooking With Lei’s website?
- Share your favorite free recipe converter?
- Read another post on this site? (Go to the menu at the top of the page.)
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