Taiwanese recipe

Taiwanese Sesame Oil Chicken

Name: Taiwanese Sesame Oil Chicken
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Taiwanese cuisine
Ingredients: 1 kg bone-in chicken thigh, 5 cm pieces; 80 g old ginger, thinly sliced; 60 ml black sesame oil; 600 ml Taiwan rice wine; 500 ml water; 10 g goji berries, rinsed, optional; 5 g fine salt, or to taste; 400 g cooked fine wheat noodles, optional for serving

Bone-in chicken, old ginger, black sesame oil, and Taiwan rice wine simmer into a warming, aromatic soup with no medicinal claims.

Taiwan

Prep: 15 min
Cook: 40 min
Total: 55 min
Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 kg
bone-in chicken thigh, 5 cm pieces
80 g
old ginger, thinly sliced
60 ml
black sesame oil
600 ml
Taiwan rice wine
500 ml
water
10 g
goji berries, rinsed, optional
5 g
fine salt, or to taste
400 g
cooked fine wheat noodles, optional for serving

Method

01
Blanch the chicken
Put chicken in boiling water for 2 minutes, drain, and rinse under warm water. Pat dry thoroughly so residual water does not spit when it meets sesame oil.
Cooking-step illustration, not a photograph
02
Slow-fry the ginger
Heat sesame oil in a heavy pot over medium-low. Add ginger in one loose layer and cook 8–10 minutes, turning, until dry at the edges and deep gold; do not let the oil smoke.
Cooking-step illustration, not a photograph
03
Brown the chicken
Raise to medium, add dried chicken, and cook 8 minutes, turning every 2 minutes, until the skin and cut surfaces lightly brown. Work in two batches if the pot bottom is not visible.
Cooking-step illustration, not a photograph
04
Boil off the raw alcohol
Add rice wine carefully and bring to a vigorous simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Keep flames away from the pot and use ventilation; the liquid should smell aromatic rather than sharply alcoholic.
Cooking-step illustration, not a photograph
05
Simmer to safe tenderness
Add 500 ml water, bring back to a simmer, cover, and cook on low 20 minutes. Add goji if using and simmer uncovered 5 minutes more until every chicken piece reaches 74°C and the broth is lightly emulsified.
Cooking-step illustration, not a photograph
06
Season and serve
Turn heat to low, add 4 g salt, and taste after 1 minute; add the final gram only if needed. Serve as soup, or put separately cooked fine noodles in bowls and ladle chicken and broth over them.
Cooking-step illustration, not a photograph

Practical notes

Tips

Brown aromatics and protein before adding liquid; this keeps the final sauce fragrant instead of merely salty.
Keep the braise at a bare simmer and judge tenderness with a skewer or chopstick; a hard boil dries meat and clouds broth.

Common mistakes

Do not reduce a salty braise before the meat is tender; add hot water if needed, then concentrate only at the end.
Measure soy sauce rather than pouring by colour; dark soy changes appearance much faster than salt level.

Substitutions

Use boneless chicken thigh and begin checking 74°C after 12 minutes of covered simmering; bone-in chicken gives a fuller broth.
For less rice-wine intensity, use 300 ml rice wine plus 800 ml water; do not replace it with sweet cooking wine.

Storage

Cool within 2 hours and refrigerate airtight for up to 3 days. Reheat once to a steady simmer and at least 74°C throughout.

Cultural context

Sesame oil chicken is associated with cool weather and family care in Taiwan. This recipe treats it as food, not medicine, and gives heat and alcohol-handling cues for safe home cooking.

Sources and photo credit

This standardized method was independently rewritten after cross-checking the references below. Recipe Nest Vault does not claim that the credited photographer cooked from this exact version.

Recipe references

麻油雞 — Photograph by Rockhsp; CC BY-SA 4.0.

Step illustrations: Original illustrations created by Recipe Nest Vault with OpenAI image_gen.

Back to Taiwanese recipes

Taiwanese Sesame Oil Chicken

Ingredients

Method

Blanch the chicken

Slow-fry the ginger

Brown the chicken

Boil off the raw alcohol

Simmer to safe tenderness

Season and serve

Sources and photo credit

Recipe references

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