This Asian seared Chicken and Green Beans recipe has the marinade and method to get you the most tender chicken of your life! And also the crispiest skin. Stir fry the green beans in a quick sauce and you are on your way to an amazing low-carb meal!
4chicken thighsskin-on bone-in, about 1 to 1 and 1/4 lbs
2tablespoonssesame oil
1 & 1/2teaspoonsbaking soda
2 & 1/2teaspoonscornstarch
2teaspoonssoy sauce
1teaspoonsriracha hot sauce
saltto sprinkle on chicken
1tablespoonsesame oil
1poundgreen beanswashed and trimmed
1cupchicken or vegetable broth
3tablespoonssoy sauce
2tablespoonThai sweet chili
1tablespoonsesame oil
4teaspoonscornstarch
Instructions
Trim the fat and excess skin from each chicken thigh.
In a medium bowl, combine raw chicken, 2 tablespoons sesame oil, baking soda, cornstarch, soy sauce, and sriracha. You will feel weird dumping dry cornstarch on your chicken. Just do it. Mix it up and it will come together I promise.
Let the chicken marinate in the fridge for about an hour. 15 minutes will do it too. Longer is better but don't stress about it.
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a small casserole dish (big enough to lay each piece of chicken flat) with nonstick spray.
Heat a dry 12-inch skillet on medium high heat. Salt the tops (skin side) of each chicken thigh.
Add 1 tablespoon sesame oil to the hot skillet. When it shimmers (if your pan is hot, this will happen right away. Don't let it smoke.) swirl the oil around and then add the chicken, skin side down. Leave as much space in between each thigh as you can.
Sear for 2-3 minutes. Keep an eye on it. Salt the side of the chicken that's facing up. When the bottom is brown and nice and crispy looking, use tongs to flip the chicken. (Discard excess marinade)
Sear for another 1-3 minutes until browned.
Turn off the heat and remove the chicken to the prepared casserole dish. Set aside the dirty skillet, don't clean it.
Bake the chicken in the oven at 400 for about 20 minutes, or until a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees. (If your chicken is done before you're done with the green beans, turn off the oven for a few minutes, then turn the oven to 170 degrees ("keep warm" setting) and put the chicken back in the oven to keep it from getting cold.
Meanwhile, wash and trim the green beans.
Prepare the sauce: in a measuring cup, combine 1 cup COLD* chicken broth, 3 tablespoons soy sauce, Thai sweet chili sauce, 1 tablespoon sesame oil. Whisk in the 4 teaspoons cornstarch. Set aside.
When the chicken is done or almost done, blanch the green beans: boil a medium pot of water on high heat (like 8 ish cups of water) with 1 tablespoon of salt. When the water is at a rolling boil, add the green beans all at once and cover immediately with a lid. Leave the heat on high. Set a timer for 2 minutes.
Heat the skillet (that you seared the chicken in) on medium high heat. If there is plenty of oil leftover, great, if not, add 1 teaspoon olive or sesame oil.
Drain the beans after 2 minutes, and immediately dump them into the hot skillet. Be careful, oil may splatter.
Saute for 1 minute.
Add the sauce you prepared.
Bring the sauce to a boil over medium high heat. When it is bubbling and thickened and the green beans are crisp-tender, add the chicken and turn off the heat.
*Whenever you mix cornstarch into liquid, the liquid MUST be cold, otherwise the cornstarch will clump up and be gross (and not thicken your sauce.)Sesame oil, Sriracha, and Thai sweet chili sauce can all be found in the Asian section of the grocery store. All of the items are linked up above so you can see what they look like.I came up with this recipe by combining elements of this stir fry recipe from Williams Sonoma with this stir fry recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe.