Rat's Tavern Recipes

mains & sides  ·  no. 27

Sweet and Sour Chicken

serves 4

ingredients:

chicken:

  • 4 chicken breasts
  • salt and msg, to season
  • cornflour, for coating

batter:

  • 180g plain flour
  • 90g cornflour
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 300g water

sauce:

  • 5 tbsp tomato puree
  • 3 tbsp brown sugar
  • 3 tbsp raspberry jam
  • 100ml water
  • 180ml white vinegar
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 100ml pineapple juice
  • ¼ tsp msg (optional)
  • 2 tsp cornflour

veg:

  • ½ a pineapple, chopped
  • 2 peppers, chopped
  • 1 onion, chopped

frying:

  • vegetable oil, for frying

directions:

  1. cut chicken into chunks and season with enough salt to coat and small sprinkle of msg.

  2. mix batter ingredients. only add water as needed to ensure it is lighter than pancake batter consistency.

  3. in a large pot, add the tomato puree and cook for 2 mins on medium heat. add the sugar and jam and cook for another min.

  4. mix in the remainder of the sauce ingredients (everything except for the cornflour). heat and bring to a gentle simmer.

  5. in a separate pan, cook the onion, peppers and pineapple until they lose a bit of their water. you can knock off the heat once they are just beginning to soften, and set aside.

  6. heat up a pot of oil to 180°C. while that is heating, toss the chicken pieces in cornflour to coat them, then drop them into the batter.

  7. deep fry chicken in batches at 180°C (about 6 mins per batch) until golden brown and 70°C inside. for extra crunch, doubly fry at 170°C for 5 mins, drain and leave to cool for 5 mins, then 200°C for 1-2 mins.

  8. add the peppers, onion and pineapple to the sauce for the last 5 mins. if you prefer the sauce to be slightly thicker, mix together 2 tsp cornflour with a small amount of water and gradually pour into the sauce to thicken. serve with rice.

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