Mum’s Sesame Oil Chicken

When I first came to London, I got pretty homesick in the first few months. My mum used to send me ridiculously large parcels, which I complained about because their size meant that, for her, they were ridiculously expensive to post, and for me, they were ridiculously heavy to carry home from the post office in the snow. Secretly though, these parcels of love made things just a little better, and though most of the things she sent were pretty useless (she sent me toothbrushes once), some things I’ve still kept as treasures, one of which is a handwritten recipe for her sesame oil chicken. I remember making it straight away that night: the kitchen filled up with the familiar heavenly aroma of ginger, sesame oil and Shaoxing rice wine, and it felt like I was home again.

Serves 2

• 2 thumb-size pieces of ginger
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon unrefined light brown sugar
• a generous dash of white pepper
• 2 chicken legs, cut into thighs and drumsticks
• 2 tablespoons groundnut oil
• 1 tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine
• about 150ml water

1. Peel and grate the ginger, then squeeze to extract its juices, reserving the pulp for later. You should get about a tablespoon’s worth of juices. Put the ginger juice, sesame oil, soy sauce, sugar and white pepper into a bowl, add the chicken and leave to marinate for at least 1 hour.
2. Pour the oil into a medium-hot wok or pot, then add the reserved ginger pulp, and fry until aromatic.
3. Add the drained chicken pieces, reserving the marinade, and fry until lightly golden all over. Turn the heat up and pour in the rice wine to deglaze the delicious brown bits at the bottom of the wok.
4. Add the reserved marinade and the water, bring to the boil, then turn the heat down to low. Cover and let simmer gently for 30 minutes.
5. Serve warm, with plain steamed rice or over cooked mee sua (wheat vermicelli).