Sweet & Sour Chicken Fakeaway!

We don’t eat takeaways too often in our house but when we do, we really enjoy them!  This is a recipe which I have been making for a number of years and it gives the same results as a takeaway but is so much nicer.

The batter is made up using cornflour and beaten egg, so unlike the Chicken Balls from a Chinese Menu, are not surrounded by a thick doughy coating.  The sweet and sour sauce is made in a couple of minutes and uses ingredients which you would have in your store cupboard.

We usually serve it in our house just with boiled Basmati Rice but if you are having it for your dinner during the week then, you could also include some wok sauteed broccoli as a side dish which would certainly add to the nutritional value (I have included the recipe for this below but it is really simple)

Serves: 5

Ingredients:
3 Large Chicken Fillets
Salt & Pepper, to taste
1 Cup of Cornflour
3 Eggs, Lightly Beaten
½ Cup (approx) of either Vegetable or Sunflower Oil
½ Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
4 Tablspns Ketchup
1 Tablspn Soy Sauce
¾ Cup Granulated Sugar
1 Teasp Garlic Salt

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180ºC (350ºF), Gas Mark 4
2. Cut chicken breasts into 1 inch pieces and season with salt and pepper
3. Place the cornflour into a plastic ziploc bag, add in the chicken and toss around to coat
4. Pour the oil into a non-stick frying pan and allow to heat (see picture above for depth of oil on pan)
5. Meanwhile, in a shallow dish, whisk together the eggs.  Dip the cornflour coated chicken pieces in the egg to completely coat and then place in the pan of oil.  Cook for approx 30 seconds on each side or until golden (Having very hot oil is key – you don’t want to cook the chicken through, but just until golden).  Transfer chicken to an oven proof dish – I use one which is 10 inches square).  Continue until all of the chicken has been cooked.
6. In a medium bowl, stir together all of the remaining ingredients.  Pour this sauce over your sauteed chicken pieces and toss to coat.  Bake uncovered in your pre-heated oven for 30 – 35 minutes turning the chicken twice while baking to coat it with the sauce.
7. Serve over some boiled basmati rice and crisp tender broccoli, for a balanced meal (see recipe below)

Stir Fried Brocolli

Ingredients:
2 Tablspns Olive Oil
400g Broccoli, cut into bite-size Florets
2 Garlic Cloves, thinly sliced

Method:

1. Heat the olive oil in your wok until smoking.  Add in the broccoli and garlic and stir-fry for 2 minutes.  Add a splash of water and cook for a further 2 minutes until tender.
2. Season to taste.