Asian Seared Chicken with Stir Fried Green Beans

Step 1

Trim the fat and excess skin from each chicken thigh.

Step 2

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.

Step 3

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.

Step 4

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a small casserole dish (big enough to lay each piece of chicken flat) with nonstick spray.

Step 5

Heat a dry 12-inch skillet on medium high heat. Salt the tops (skin side) of each chicken thigh.

Step 6

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.

Step 7

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)

Step 8

Sear for another 1-3 minutes until browned.

Step 9

Turn off the heat and remove the chicken to the prepared casserole dish. Set aside the dirty skillet, don't clean it.

Step 10

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.

Step 11

Meanwhile, wash and trim the green beans.

Step 12

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.

Step 13

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.

Step 14

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.

Step 15

Drain the beans after 2 minutes, and immediately dump them into the hot skillet. Be careful, oil may splatter.

Step 16

Saute for 1 minute.

Step 17

Add the sauce you prepared.

Step 18

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.

Step 19

Serve with brown rice, Coconut Jasmine Rice with Cilantro, or Asian Cauliflower "Rice."