Sticky Sesame Chicken

I don't understand people that eat plain chicken and rice. Who actually enjoys plain chicken and rice? For one thing said people almost inevitably choose chicken breast (the driest and least flavoursome part of chicken) then overcook it so that you can practically bounce it on the floor. They serve it up with long grain white rice (not even basmati- far too flavourful) and then instagram their food with endless hash-tags along the lines of #healthy #fitness #cleaneats #yummy #foodporn. Whilst the first three hash-tags may be true the latter two most definitely aren't. If that's their idea of food porn I dread to think what their idea of actual porn is. Well, I'm here to save these people from themselves with a fairly healthy chicken and rice dish that can be made with ingredients almost everyone has in their cupboard, actually tastes good and is worthy of instagramming.

Sticky Sesame Chicken 

Ingredients: (makes 2 small portions or one large one)

• 3 tbsp honey
• 3 tbsp soy sauce 
• 1.5 tbsp Heinz bbq sauce 
• Small squirt of Heinz tomato ketchup 
• 1 small tsp brown sugar 
• 40g sesame seeds 
• 1 large chicken breast/ 2 small chicken breasts 
• 2 portions of basmati rice (see packet for portion guidelines) 

Note: this is the kind of sauce where you have to taste it as you go along to know if it's right. Don't just follow the amounts blindly. It's the kind of sauce where different people will want a different edge to the sauce. If you want it sweeter, add a little more honey. If it's too sweet, add a tad more soy. If you want more of a smoky bbq flavour or can taste the soy too much then add a little more bbq sauce. 

Method:

• Dice the chicken into small chunks. Measure out the honey, soy, bbq, ketchup and sugar into one mixing bowl and mix. If the sauce is quite thin add a smidgen of cornflour and mix well. Don't worry if it is a little lumpy- this should go once the sauce is on the heat if you give it a bit of a stir. 
• Weigh out the sesame seeds and place on a plate. Dip each chicken chunk into the sauce first then roll in the sesame seeds and put to one side. If the sesame seeds start sticking more to each other than the chicken, pour more sesame seeds onto the plate. They need to be quite dry to start with to stick to the chicken. 
• When all of the chicken pieces have been coated boil the kettle and pour the portion of rice into a pan. Add the water, bring to the boil then simmer for 8-9 minutes, or according to packet instructions. 
• Once the rice is on, heat a large frying pan on a medium heat and spray some cooking oil over it to stop the chicken sticking. Add the chicken and cook for 4-5 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. To check it is cooked cut one piece in half. It should not have any pink in the middle. Add the remaining sauce and stir. You may get a few burnt bits of sauce on the bottom- scrape these off as these are the most flavoursome bits! 
• Serve up the rice, making sure to pour boiling water over the rice as you drain it to get rid of the starch. Then serve up the chicken over the top.