Battered sweet & sour chicken recipe | Good Food

Sweet & sour chicken

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

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.