Toriniku no gomadare-yaki / grilled chicken with sesame sauce

Tender, juicy chicken breast with toasty sesame sauce. The chicken is first marinated in sake, then steamed with sauce on top, and finally broiled for a toasty result.
Adapted from "Seikaro Kokusai Byoin no Aijo Kenko Reshipi," a healthy recipe cookbook by St. Luke's International Hospital in Tokyo.

Whole recipe:
382 calories; 33.7 g protein; 23.3 g fat; 5.0 g carbohydrate; 4.0 g net carbs; 291 mg sodium (with 50% reduced-sodium soy sauce; 489-519 mg with regular soy sauce); 126 mg cholesterol; 1.0 g fiber


<Ingredients>

(Serves 1)

1 boneless & skinless chicken breast (164 g in photo)
2 tbsp sake

For gomadare sesame sauce
1 tbsp toasted white sesame seeds
1 1/2 tsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp rice vinegar (infused with kombu kelp)
1 tsp sake
1/2 tsp mirin
Pinch brown sugar


<Directions>
1.

Remove obvious fat on chicken, and poke with a fork.

Pour sake, and let sit for 30+ minutes in the fridge.

2.

Grind white sesame seeds in suribachi mortar.

Add the rest of gomadare ingredients, and mix well. 

Set aside.

3.
Start preheating oven for broiler.


4.

Place chicken in an oven-safe frying pan lined with parchment paper.
Pat-dry the top, spread gomadare, cover, and steam on medium low to low heat for 7-8 minutes.

(After 8 minutes)

5.

Put pan in oven, and broil until top is brown.

6.

Sogigiri slice at a slant, and serve with vegetables (grilled shishito peppers and julienned daikon radish in sweetened vinegar in photo).

<Notes>

• Marinating chicken in sake for some time and steaming it first ensures a moist texture at the end.
• To make the finished dish easy to eat with chopsticks, the chicken is usually sliced or cut before serving it with Japanese dishes.
• The amount above is for 2 servings in the recipe from St. Luke's International Hospital. At our house, everything just goes in Tom's stomach.
  
• Shishito peppers were broiled at the same time as the chicken and removed when done.