Tahina Sauce Vegetables & Chicken

 

I am sure most of you are familiar with 'hummus'
which is a dip, ubiquitous in the middle east.
My dear friend in Isreal gave me a bottle of tahina
which is the key component of hummus.
Instead of hummus, I decided to turn it into a sauce
for vegetables, chinese way.   Afterall, the chinese
used sesame as oil as well as to flavour everything,
toasted and sprinkled on salads, as dips, in marinades
and soups.

The chinese have a similar paste called sesame sauce(芝麻酱)
It is not quite interchangeable with tahina because the
chinese paste is from ROASTED sesame.  
Taste wise, as one can expect, roasted sesame is
rocking nutty.


   

Just dilute 2 Tbs sesame paste/tahina with 3 Tbs
warm water and you will have a nutty sauce,
full of creamy goodness.
An alternative to coconut milk in small dosage.
















You need :
(omit this if vegetarian)
200g or 2 pcs chicken breast, cut into bite sizes
marinade in
1 tsp cornflour+1 tsp sesame oil+1tsp shaoxing wine or sherry for 10 minutes







 While meat is marinating, prepare.....

 

1 small can bamboo shoots
1 green/yellow/red pepper
(whatever is available)
1 small corgette
1 small carrot
1 small onion  (cut into wedges)
2 pips of garlic (chopped)
3 slices of ginger (julienne)


 1 tbsp of Tahina (dissolved in 3 tbsp of warm water)
2 tbsp of oyster sauce
1 tbsp of soy sauce
1 tsp of sugar
1 tsp of chilli paste or 1 chopped chilli (optional)

 

Method  :

Heat a deep pan and add 2 tbsp of oil
(corn oil or sunflower oil).
Add chicken breast and stirfry till meat
is white.   Dish out meat and set aside.
Omit this step for vegetarian











   

1. Heat up pan and add 2 tbsp of oil.
2. Add garlic and ginger (and chopped chilli),
   stirfry till aromatic or starts to brown.
3. Add all vegetables and stirfy for
    approximately 3 minutes.
4. Add chicken, oyster sauce, sugar and tahina
5. Mix thoroughly for approximately 30 seconds.
6. Taste, adjust accordingly and serve.

It is not necessary to add cornstarch for sauce
    as the tahina is very creamy.