Poached Chicken Breast + Special Dipping Sauce

Remember the six chicken breasts? Here is how I prepared them. The kids are not a big fan of chicken breasts, but when I poach them and serve with sauces, that's another story. The sauce for today's dish may seem a bit complicated, but once you have all the ingredients ready, you can play around with the portions to your taste.

Here is the Poached Chicken Breasts with Special Sauce from my kitchen:

Ingredients 

3 boneless chicken breasts

Sauce (suggested portions)

1 part of peanut butter
5 parts of hot water

1 part of soy sauce

1 part of vinegar

1 part of sugar

a handful of Sichuan Pepper

1 part of vegetable oil

A splash of sesame oil, optional

5 cloves of garlic, minced
2 green onions, thinly sliced

3 red chilies, seeded and thinly sliced

A handful of peanuts, toasted

a handful of toasted sesame seeds

Sichuan Pepper

How to poach the chicken breasts

1. Bring a pot of water or broth to a boil then add in all the chicken breasts. I was making stock with the bones so I used the stock to poach my chicken.
   
   All the chicken breasts should be fully submerged. If not, add more broth or water. Bring it to a boil and immediately turn the heat down to low. Simmer with lid on for 18 minutes. Remove from heat and leave the lid on. Let it steam for another 5 minutes.
2. Remove the chicken breasts and immediately submerge them into icy cold water. I added ice pack to bring down the temperature quicker. Soak until all the chicken breasts are completely cooled down. Drain and pad dry.
   
3. Thinly sliced the chicken breasts diagonally. Serve with sauce immediately or keep in the fridge for serving later. Can be served warm or cold with the sauce (see below).
   

How to make the sauce

1. Heat the Sichuan pepper and vegetable oil in a small pot on low to medium heat until fragrant. Drain the oil and discard the Sichuan pepper. Pour the drained oil back into the same pot.
   
   
2. On low to medium heat, add garlic and red chili into the pot of oil. Stir and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
   
3. Put the peanut butter in a bowl and add 1/2 of the hot water. Mix until it is completely smooth. Repeat with the same to add the remaining hot water. 
   
4. Add the galic, red chili and oil, and all the remaining ingredients into the peanut butter mixture, except the peanuts and sesame seeds. Mix well and adjust seasonings to your taste.
5. To serve, warm up the chicken or serve at room temperature. Right before serving, pour the sauce over the chicken then sprinkle peanuts and sesame seeds on top. Or serve the peanuts, sesame seeds and sauce on the side. Do not mix the peanuts and sesame seeds into the sauce and sprinkle them on top right before serving to keep the crunchiness.

   

   Skipped the red chili for my younger son, but he actually preferred the sauce with chili.