Sweet and sour chicken balls

Sweet and sour chicken balls

Here is a quick and easy version of the popular Chinese takeaway dish.

Ingredients
•4 boneless chicken breasts
•1 cup flour
•4 tsp. baking powder
•Salt and pepper, to taste
•1/3 cup cider vinegar
•1 egg, beaten
•¾ cup milk
•½ cup ketchup
•1 tsp. soy sauce
•1 tsp. Sugar
•1 cup sugar
•½ cup brown sugar
•4 tbsp. corn starch
•400g tin pineapple chunks
•¼ cup water
•3 drops red food colouring optional
•Vegetable oil, for cooking

Step 1 Bring a pot of water to the boil. Cut the chicken breasts into quarters, and simmer for about 8 minutes or until cooked through. Drain, and cover the chicken and set aside to cool.

Step 2Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, pepper and 1 tsp. sugar in a large bowl. Add the egg and milk, and whisk until smooth.

step 3 Heat the vegetable oil over medium heat in a large frying pan, at a depth of about one inch. While the oil heats. Cut the chicken breasts into very small, even pieces, and stir them gently into the bowl of batter.

step 4 When the oil is hot use a small spoon to individually place each piece of chicken into the hot oil. Don’t fry the chicken to close to each other as they will stick together. When the bottoms are browned, usually about a minute or two. Use a pair of tongs to flip each piece. When they are fully browned place on a tray lined with paper towel to drain the excess oil, while continuing to cook the remainder of the chicken pieces.

step 5 Now to make the sweet N sour sauce. Mix ketchup, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, brown sugar, and pineapple chunks and the juice

In a small pan. Bring to a gentle boil on medium heat. Whisk the cornstarch and water together in a jug or bowl and add to the saucepan mixture while stirring. Add the food colouring
Return the mixture to a boil, until it just begins to thicken, before removing from the heat.

Serve the chicken balls and sweet and sour sauce with a rice or stir fry of your choice.