Ginger Sesame Chicken

This dish is a cold weather staple in our family. I'm reminded to make it because mom facebooked that she made it during the recent snow storm. Mom calls it sesame chicken - I added the "ginger" so that it wouldn't be confused with the deep fried sweet sticky concoction that one gets at a Chinese take-out joint. Mom gets her chicken from the Chinese butcher - a whole chicken hacked into little pieces. While the pieces are great and the bones lend a rich flavor to the sauce, one always had to be careful not to stick themselves with a chicken shard. Verdict? M says, "Wow, honey, this is delicious!"

Ginger Sesame Chicken
- Around 3 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 thumb of ginger, sliced
- 1 lb of chicken (I used boneless, skinless chicken thigh meat) cut into 1 inch by 1 inch pieces
- 3/4 cup of rice wine

Dry chicken and sprinkle with some kosher salt. In a pot for braising, add enough sesame oil to coat the bottom. When hot, add ginger and saute until flavor is released. Be careful because sesame oil burns easily. Add chicken (may have to be in batches) and brown. When chicken is browned, turn up heat and add rice wine. Let alcohol cook off, add equal amount of water (add wine and water until meat is just covered). Lower heat to a simmer and cook covered for at least 30 minutes. Salt to taste and add a dash of white pepper. Serve over somen noodles.