Sweet & Sour Chicken

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
• tempura batter (see below)
• 1 small red pepper, cored, deseeded and roughly chopped
• 1 medium carrot, sliced thinly on the diagonal
• 2 fat 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

Preparation

Serves 4

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.
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.
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.