Ketchup is not Chinese (Do-Vember #3)

Do-Vember

I don't pin a lot of recipes, because I honestly wouldn't remember to go look for them if I did. In the realm of food, I post more links to general things like "Ten Healthy Freezer Meals." But one of the first recipes I ever pinned, probably a year ago, that I never ever have printed out or made, is Crockpot Sesame Chicken. I was sucked in by that delicious-looking photo, and it has stayed on my Supper board ever since.

When I looked at the actual list of ingredients today (thinking that it was time to fish chicken or cut bait, I realized that the sauce is almost identical to the magic ketchup-based Honey Garlic sauce for chicken and pork that we've been making for several years. The recipe is the one from A Year of Slow Cooking, except that I cut the soy sauce in half and it still tastes good. It works in the slow cooker, in the oven, and on the stovetop. We've even put it in small bags of pork or chicken for freezer meals. It is the tastes-most-like-Chinese-restaurant thing I know how to make, and I realize how bizarre that sounds (ketchup? basil?), but you have to try it to believe it.

So I guess it's time to unpin the Sesame Chicken photo; and next time I make Honey Garlic Chicken, I might try sprinkling some sesame seeds on top as well.