Sesame Seed Oil Chicken with Sticky Rice
Love Sesame Seed Oil Chicken?
Love Sticky Rice?
Try my grandma’s cozy recipe combining them both!
Pin It Now and Cook It Later!
Sesame Seed Oil Chicken With Sticky Rice
Do you love sesame oil, ginger, and chicken? 🍗 If yes, I’ve got something special for you today—my ultimate comfort food that’s also my grandma’s beloved recipe: Sesame Seed Oil Chicken with Sticky Rice 🥰🍚
This dish is a twist on the traditional Taiwanese sesame oil chicken soup. Instead of soup, my grandma made it with sticky rice—and let me tell you, it’s so comforting and heartwarming. 💛 When I was a kid, she would make it from time to time, and after I moved to Australia, I missed it so much.
You might see sesame oil chicken soup in Taiwanese restaurants, but this sticky rice version? It’s truly a home-style recipe—something you won’t easily find, even in the restaurants in Taiwan. That’s why I’m so excited to share it with you! 🎉
It’s especially nourishing during winter ❄️—sesame oil and ginger help warm up your body from the inside out. But don’t worry if it’s summer in your region ☀️—I’ve also turned it into rice balls that taste amazing even when cold, perfect for a picnic or meal prep! 🎒🍙
My grandma’s version uses pure white sticky rice, but I personally love purple sticky rice so much! 💜 So in this recipe, I’m sharing two versions: one with white sticky rice, and one with a mix of white and purple sticky rice. You can try both and see which one you like more!
I’ve also added goji berries for a gentle sweet note and extra nutrition. My grandma didn’t include them in her version, but I love them and they’re commonly found in sesame oil chicken soups too. If you’ve been following Bubble Foodex!, you’ll know how much I love using goji berries—they’re so healthy and tasty!
Traditionally, my grandma made this dish on the stovetop, and I’ll guide you through that method in detail so you can feel confident cooking it in one pot 🥘—even if you’re new to stovetop cooking! But don’t worry—I will also provide pressure cooker and rice cooker methods for you, just in case you prefer those 😉✅
Are you ready to make this nourishing dish? Let’s get started! 👩🍳
Difficulty: simple
Health benefits: Ginger and sesame oil warm up your body from inside out
Time: soak sticky rice (at least 5 hours for purple sticky rice/ at least 2 hours for white sticky rice) ; 1 hours for cooking (45 minutes if only use white sticky rice)
Serve: 4-5 serves
Ingredients
Chicken breast/thigh: 200-250g (around 1 chicken breast, 2 chicken thighs)
Ginger: 15g
Shittak mushroom (dried): 45g
Cooking wine: 200ml
Shittak mushroom water/plain water: 200ml
Purple sticky rice (can replace with same amout of white sticy rice): 150g
White sticky rice (long grain): 150g
Sesame oil: 10ml (2 tsp)
Salt: personal preference
Important ratio between sticky rice and liquid:
(It doesn’t matter what cup, bowl or measuring cup you use, you just need to make sure you use the same one to measure the amount of rice and liquid. The above quantity for rice and liquid is based on the rice measuring cup I use at home.)
1 cup/bowl of white sticky rice : 0.5-0.8 cup/bowl of liquid
1 cup/bowl of purple sticky rice : 1 cup/bowl of liquid
Tips for Selecting Ingredients
Whit sticky rice: you can find short and long white sticky rices in the Asian supermarkets. Long white sticky rices taste more chewer and is normally used for savory dishes. Short white sticky rices usually taste softer and usually used for making desserts. In Australia, long white sticky rices is usually from Thailand and short one is usually from China. I recommend using long white sticky rice however if you like soft taste you can use short sticky rice.
Purple sticky rice: in Australia, you can find purple sticky rice in the Asian supermarket. Make sure the purple sticky rice you get is sticky rice sometimes it also called glutenous rice because there is another type of rice called black rice. They are not sticky rice but they look similar.
Shittak mushroom: in Asian supermarkets, I highly recommend you using dried one because dried shit mushroom has stronger aroma but the fresh one will work as well. There are several different dried shittak mushroom sold in the Asian supermarket whichever of them will work. I personally prefer mini shittak mushroom because it is convenient for me when I cook other dishes. I don't need to slice it at all.
Cooking wine: In other Bubble Foodex! recipes, you can replace the rice cooking wine with the cheap white grape wine. However, the aroma from the rice cooking wine is important for this sesame seed or your chicken with sticky rice. I highly recommend you using rice cooking wine or cooking sake period. if you only have white grape wine, your sesame or your chicken sticky rice will still taste taste amazing.
Goji berry (babury wolfberry fruit): Gogi berry is one of the most widely used ingredients in Taiwanese foods, including soup, dishes, and desserts. You will see them a lot in the recipes on Bubble Foodex! They are famous for being rich in antioxidants and supporting our eye health.
Quick Steps Snapshot for Sesame Seed Oil Chicken with Sticky Rice
Soak purple sticky rice for 8 hours (or at least 4).
Soak white sticky rice for 2 hours (can mix with purple rice).
Soak shiitake mushrooms in drinking water (or hot water for 10–15 min).
Soak chicken breast in 5% salt water for 2+ hours or overnight.
Slice ginger, mushrooms, and chicken into thin strips.
Sauté ginger in sesame oil until edges turn golden brown.
Add chicken and stir-fry until it turns white (light browning optional).
Add mushrooms and stir-fry until fragrant (2–3 minutes).
Add sticky rice and goji berries; stir-fry until rice starts sticking slightly.
Add mushroom water and cooking wine (50:50 ratio), bring to a boil.
Simmer on low heat for 27 min (or 15 min if only use white sticky rice), lid on.
Turn off heat and rest with lid on for 15 more minutes.
Alternatively, use a pressure cooker or rice cooker for the same recipe.
Serve warm or cold—enjoy it directly or great as rice balls for a picnic! Pair perfectly with Taiwanese sweet and sour cucumber.
Detailed Step-by-Step Guidance
1. soak purple sticky rice, white sticky rice and dried shittake mushroom
Soak purple sticky rice in the water for at least 4 hours. I recommend soaking it overnigt or 8 hours.
Soak white sticky rice for at least 2 hours. It is okay for you to mix it with purple sticky rice.
It’s VERY IMPORTANT to soak the sticky rice to ensure it cooks through properly and doesn’t end up hard in the middle. I’ve tested it several times in the past to see if I could skip the soaking step—but trust me, it’s really hard to cook it thoroughly, especially the purple sticky rice! 😅 So don’t worry—I’ve already done the experiment for you! 👩🍳✅
Use drinking water to soak the shiitake mushroom because we are going to use this water to cook the sticky rice later on. If you are in a rush, you can use boiled water to soak it, and it will absorb water speedily (only around 10-15 minutes will be ready).
2. Soak chicken breast in 5% salt water for at least 2 hours or overnight to make it juicy and tender.
There are several ways to make chicken breast juicy, such as marinating it in yogurt or onion. However, in my humble opinion, soaking it in 5% salt water is the most effective method. I highly recommend this step, as it’s the key to ensuring your chicken breasts turn out tender and not dry.
Be careful not to use too much salt because this can make the chicken overly salty.
If you’re using chicken thighs instead, you can skip this step and cook them directly.
3. Slice the ginger, shiitake mushroom, and chicken breast into thin strips.
Ginger provides important aroma and flavour to this sesame seed oil chicken sticky rice. By cutting it into thin shreds, its aroma can easily release, and it won’t taste spicy when you eat it.
It is easier to bite if we slice chicken breast and shittake mushroom in thin strips. However, if you use mini shittake mushroom, you can just slice the one that is bigger and keep the smaller one as it is. This also provides another type of texture.
4. Add 1 tsp (5ml) of sesame oil and ginger to the pan and sauté them until the ginger’s sides turn brown.
This step is important and won’t take long as it maximises the aroma of the ginger and sesame oil.
5. Add chicken breast and stir-fry it until they turns white.
I like to pan-fry the chicken breast until some sides of them turn a little bit brown to create a bit of Maillard reaction. However, it is not necessary for this sesame oil chicken sticky rice, as the main aroma comes from ginger, sesame oil, shiitake mushrooms, and cooking wine.
6. Add shiitake mushrooms and continue stir-frying until you can smell their aroma.
Shitake mushrooms provide an important aroma to this sesame oil chicken sticky rice, so it is essential to stir-fry them until you smell their aroma. It will take about 2-3 minutes; keep stirring them to avoid getting burned.
7. Add both purple and white sticky rice, goji berries and 5ml sesame oil. Continue stir-frying everything until the sticky rice begins to stick slightly to the bottom of the pan.
When the sticky rice begins to stick slightly to the bottom of the pot but can still be easily lifted with a spatula, it’s time to move on to the next step.
8. Add shiitake mushroom water and cooking wine. Bring the liquid to a boil and simmer it over a small flame for 27 minutes (15 minutes if you only use white sticky rice). Afterwards, turn the flame off and keep the lid on for 15 minutes (10 minutes for pure white sticky rice version).
Make sure the water slightly covers all the ingredients—this is important to ensure the sticky rice cooks through properly. If you’ve added all the water listed in the recipe but it still doesn’t cover everything, especially the sticky rice, feel free to add a little more water. Just be careful not to add too much, as it can make the sticky rice too soft or mushy.
If you do not have or do not have enough shiitake mushroom water, you can substitute it with regular drinking water.
Cooking wine adds a key aroma to this sesame oil chicken sticky rice, so I don’t recommend reducing the amount too much. Ideally, cooking wine should make up 50% of the total liquid in the recipe. If you find the flavor too strong, you can reduce it to 40% and replace the remaining amount with shiitake mushroom soaking water or drinking water. However, avoid cutting it down too much—otherwise, the signature aroma from the cooking wine may be lost.
Please note that every stove top can be different. When you start simmering, ensure the sound is not a loud, bubbling water sound, which indicates that the small flame of your stove is too large. You will need to use another stove with even the smallest flame. Conversely, if you hear almost nothing, the flame may be too small.
It is very important to keep the leads on for another 15 minutes after turning off the phlegm. Just like cooking rice, it is a crucial step to make sure the sticky rice is cooked thoroughly and doesn't taste hot in the middle.
9. Alternatively, you can use a pressure cooker or rice cooker to make this dish. In this recipe, I use the stovetop method for the purple sticky rice version and a pressure cooker for the pure white sticky rice version.
⏲️ Pressure Cooker (or the instruction on your pressure cooker):
Cook for 15 minutes if using the purple sticky rice version (multigrain rice mode).
Cook for 11 minutes if using the pure white sticky rice version (normal rice mode).
🍚 Rice Cooker:
Use the regular rice cooking mode for the pure white sticky rice version.
Use the multigrain mode for the purple sticky rice or mixed rice version.
Ready to serve! You can enjoy it directly when it is warm. It also tastes super good when it gets cold. I make them into a rice ball so it can be a convenient picnic main dish. It also pairs perfectly with the sweet and sour cucumber on Bubbled Foodex!
Sesame Seed Oil Chicken With Sticky Rice