Kwoklyn Wan
Chef and presenter Kwoklyn Wan explains how to master this popular takeaway classic in your home kitchen
Sweet & sour chicken
If you’d like to make this vegetarian, you can quite easily swap the chicken for mushrooms, tofu, aubergines or courgettes (or any type of vegetable that you want to make sweet and sour).
SERVES 4 PREP 20 mins
COOK 20 mins EASY
125g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
160ml semi-skimmed milk 1 tbsp groundnut oil, plus extra
for deep-frying
4 chicken breasts, cut into
3cm pieces
For the sweet & sour sauce 240ml orange juice
3 tbsp caster sugar
1 tbsp tomato purée
1 tbsp tomato ketchup
3 tbsp white wine vinegar 3 tbsp cornflour, mixed with
6 tbsp water
1 For the sauce, put the orange juice, sugar, tomato purée, ketchup and vinegar in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 mins. Slowly pour in the cornflour mixture, a little at a time, stirring continuously until thickened. Remove from the heat and set aside. 2 Mix the flour, baking powder and 1 tsp salt together in a large bowl. Beat the eggs, milk and 1 tbsp oil together in a separate bowl. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix well to create a smooth paste. Tip in the chicken pieces and mix, making sure each piece is thoroughly coated in the paste. 3 Fill a deep saucepan or wok a third full with oil and heat to 170C, or until a cube of bread dropped in browns within 30 seconds. Carefully lower the coated chicken pieces into the oil, one piece at a time, and fry in batches of five for about 5-6 mins until golden brown and cooked through. If you have a probe thermometer, the internal temperature should reach 78C. If you don’t have a thermometer, cut a chicken piece in half to ensure that it is cooked through.
4 Transfer the fried chicken to a plate lined with kitchen paper to drain any excess oil. Serve with the sweet & sour sauce for dipping.