Q: Another prizewinner among oils in the kitchen is sesame oil. We often hear that it’s very healthy, nutritious, and full of vitamins. It smells great and tastes delicious with rice, chicken and peas. Can we microwave sesame oil and still save its precious micro and macro elements?
Can I Cook with Sesame Oil in a Microwave Oven?
If you tend to cook dishes from Asia cuisine, at least occasionally, then sesame oil is a must in your kitchen. All of the following dishes combine perfectly with sesame oil, which in its turn perfectly “gets along” with honey and soy sauce:
- Spicy Chinese snacks
- Seafood salads
- Pickled vegetables
- Meat
- Meat salads
- Deep fryers
- Oriental sweets
If the taste of sesame oil is too saturated for your dish, then it can be mixed with any other vegetable oils. As a rule, oriental masters of culinary practice recommend mixing it with peanut butter, for it is in all relations softer than sesame.
The only warning is: do not fry in sesame oil, because this isn’t healthy at all. Prefer to microwave the dishes which have sesame oil among the ingredients.
How to Cook Chicken Kebab with Sesame Oil Using Microwave?
Ingredients:
Chicken breasts without bones – 600 g
Dry sherry – 1 tbs
Soy sauce (light) – 1 tsp
Fresh ginger (shred it) – 1 tsp
Spicy sauce ingredients:
Sesame oil – 0.5 tsp
Peanut butter (creamy) – 1.5 tbs
Salad oil – 2.5 tbs
Soy sauce – 2 tbs
Sugar (granulated) – 2 tbs
Vinegar (white wine) – 2 tsp
Pepper (grand cayenne) – up to 0.5 tsp
Green onion (minced) – 1 tbs
Preparation:
Take skewers made of wood and place chicken chunks on them.
Make sauce by mixing soy sauce, oil, ginger and sherry.
For a spicy sauce, mix all the ingredients for it.
Brush chicken with sherry and put in the microwave for three minutes.
After three minutes, take out the skewers and turn them around, then microwave for other 3 minutes until readiness.
Place it on a large dish and decorate to your taste.
Can I Microwave Snow Peas in Sesame Oil?
Certainly. This is a very good choice when you are thinking of cooking snow peas in the microwave oven.
You would need 500 grams of snow peas with cut edges, 1 teaspoon of sesame oil and 1 tablespoon of soy sauce.
Mix the soy sauce with the sesame oil and cover the snow peas, which you’ve already placed in the microwave-safe container.
Microwave the dish for 3 to 4 minutes depending on the capacity of your microwave.
If you take less or more snow peas, regulate the amounts of oil and sauce and microwave relevantly.
Why is Sesame Oil So Healthy and Useful?
Clinically proven are the facts that sesame oil:
- slows down the aging of the body cells (in particular it concerns skin cells, hair and nails)
- reduces the intensity of pain during periods
- improves blood clotting (especially important for patients with hemorrhagic diathesis, thrombopenia, etc.)
- strengthens the cardiovascular system, helps normalize blood pressure and preventing spasms of cerebral vessels
- reduces the level of bad cholesterol (low density) and helps the body get rid of cholesterol plaques in the blood vessels
- enhances the blood supply of all parts of the brain, increasing its ability to memorize and reproduce information
- helps to recover after physical and mental stress
- has a mild laxative effect, cleanses the human digestive system from toxins and salts of heavy metals
- stimulates the formation and release of bile
- eliminates dysfunction of the liver and pancreas, stimulates digestion, and also protects the walls of the stomach and intestines from the negative effects of digestive juices and harmful substances ingested with food
In addition to all, sesame oil increases the digestibility of vitamins. Therefore, with hypovitaminosis, you should eat plenty of vegetable salads abundantly seasoned with sesame oil.
From the point of view of traditional medicine, sesame oil is good for:
- raising the immunity
- helping to treat lung diseases (asthma, bronchitis)
- Lowering blood sugar levels
- Strengthening teeth and gums, reducing pain and eliminating inflammation in the mouth
How to Choose and Preserve Sesame Oil?
Sesame oil is prepared from raw (the lightest and the most tender), roasted and fried seeds (intense taste and aroma).
Benefits and harms of sesame oil of different species are approximately the same. The differences relate mainly to taste and smell. So use your personal preferences, sense of smell and taste to determine which sesame oil is best for you.
For the sake of justice, we note that there is also refined sesame oil, but it’s not even worth considering seriously. Because there are much cheaper and equally safe variants of “tasteless” oils, suitable for frying.
The best way to store sesame oil is in a well-clogged glass or ceramic dish in a dark cool place.
