Sweet and Sour Chicken Balls

Ingredients

• 3 medium Chicken Breasts

For the Batter
• 125g Plain flour
• 2 teaspoons Baking powder
• 2 teaspoons Corn flour
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 125ml Water
• 3 tablespoons of Vegetable oil
• 50g cornflour (to coat chicken pieces)
• 1 litre of Vegetable oil, in a wok to deep fry the chicken balls

For the Sauce
• 1/4 onion, cut into (approx) 1.5cm cubes
• 1/4 red pepper, cut to the same size
• 1/4 green pepper, cut to same size
• 250ml Pineapple juice
• 2 tablespoons Caster Sugar
• 4 Tablespoons Tomato ketchup
• 2 teaspoons cornflour, mixed with a little cold water

For the Rice
• 200g (dried weight) Jasmine Rice - cooked as per packet instructions and cooled under cold running water in a sieve
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 tablespoons of Sesame oil (added to beaten egg)
• 50g peas (frozen is fine, defrost them under warm running water before use)
• 3 tablespoons of Light soy sauce (Dark Soy sauce can also be used, but will make the rice darker)

Instructions

• Firstly, make the batter as it needs to rest for a while whilst you make the other parts of this dish. Combine the flour, cornflour, baking powder and salt.
• Add the oil to the water and add half the water mix at a time to the dry mix, whisking continuously.
• It needs to be a thick batter in order for it to coat the chicken, add a little more water if required, or flour if it is too runny.
• Leave to rest.
• At this point, start heating the oil in the wok

To make the sauce
• Using a tablespoon of the vegetable oil for frying, gently fry onion and peppers until softened.
• Add pineapple juice, sugar and tomato ketchup and stir
• Bring to simmer and add cornflour mix a little at a time until it reaches your preferred consistency
• Keep on lowest heat possible whist you cook the rice and chicken.
• If it gets too thick, add a little more pineapple juice

To make the rice
• Heat a non stick heavy bottomed pan and add the rice and peas
• After 2 minutes, make a well in the middle and add the egg/sesame oil mix a little at a time, stirring the egg until it sets
• Once all the egg is added, add the Soy sauce, stir together and pop in a warm oven whilst you cook the chicken.

Cooking the Chicken balls
• Re-whisk the batter for 30 seconds
• Cut your chicken into small cubes (approx 2cm cubed)
• Add chicken pieces to batter mix
• Drop a little batter mix into the hot oil, if it fizzes vigorously, you are good to go.
• Please note, it is important not to overheat the oil, or the balls will burn before the chicken is cooked.
• Add chicken 6-8 pieces at a time, using a slotted spoon, move them around to ensure they don't stick to each other.
• When golden (approx 3 to 4 minutes), carefully remove from the oil and place on a plate with some kitchen paper to absorb excess oil
• Repeat until all chicken is cooked.
• Serve immediately on a bed of the fried rice, topped with the sweet and sour sauce.
• Enjoy!!

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