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Battered sweet & sour chicken

Sweet & sour chicken

Battered sweet & sour chicken

Name: Battered sweet & sour chicken
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 2-3 large skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 400g/14oz total weight); 1 tbsp soy sauce; 2 tsp sesame oil; groundnut or sunflower oil for deep frying, plus extra for stir-frying; batter (see below); 1small red pepper cored, deseeded and roughly chopped; 1medium carrot sliced thinly on the diagonal; 2fat garlic cloves chopped; 2 tsp finely chopped fresh root ginger; 3 tbsp soy sauce; 3 tbsp white wine vinegar; 3 tbsp sherry; 1 tbsp light soft brown sugar; 1 tsp cornflour

Good Food team

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Serves 4

Easy

Prep: 15 mins - 20 mins

Cook: 20 mins

A star rating of 4 out of 5.51 ratingsRate

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This homemade sweet and sour sauce is so much better than a takeaway. Great with rice or noodles

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Utterly foolproof rice

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Ingredients

Nutrition

Units:

MetricUS

2-3 large skinless, boneless chicken breasts

(about 400g/14oz total weight)
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
groundnut or sunflower oil

for deep frying, plus extra for stir-frying
batter

(see below)
1small red pepper

cored, deseeded and roughly chopped
1medium carrot

sliced thinly on the diagonal
2fat garlic cloves

chopped
2 tsp finely chopped fresh root ginger

For the sauce

3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
3 tbsp sherry
1 tbsp light soft brown sugar
1 tsp cornflour

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Nutrition: per serving

kcal522
fat33g
saturates6g
carbs31g
sugars4g
fibre2g
protein27g
salt2.9g

Method

step 1

Cut the chicken into small chunks and mix with the soy sauce and sesame oil. In a jug or bowl, mix together the sauce ingredients with 100ml cold water. Line a large plate with kitchen paper.
step 2

Heat the groundnut oil in a deep-fat fryer to about 180C. Then dip a few chunks of chicken at a time into the batter, then place in the hot oil using tongs or a slotted spoon, but don’t crowd the pan. Fry until crisp and golden – about 2 mins. You may need to do this in batches, so reheat the oil each time. As the chunks cook, lift out with tongs/spoon to the paper-lined plate to drain.
step 3

Heat a wok to hot, add about 3 tbsp oil and stir-fry the vegetables with the garlic and ginger for about 3 mins. Give the sauce a quick final stir and pour into the wok, mixing as it cooks to a light glossy sauce. Bubble for 1 min, then spoon over the chicken and serve.

RECIPE TIPS

MAKING TEMPURA BATTER

Mix this just as you are about to cook. Sift 85g/3oz plain flour and 1 tbsp cornflour with ½ tsp fine sea salt into a large mixing bowl. Whisk in 200ml/7fl oz ice-cold sparkling mineral water along with a few ice cubes using a whisk, but don’t over beat. It doesn’t matter about a few lumps. Use immediately.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, September 2005

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A star rating of 4 out of 5.51 ratings

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