I've such fond memories of eating this dish as a kid when we were treated to our Friday night takeaway. When I found out how easy it is to re-create this famous dish at home, while also saving money, I made my own version and hope you love it as much as I do!
Prep
10 min
Cook
15 min
Serves
4
Difficulty
Medium
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Ingredients
chicken thighs 500 g (chopped)
egg 1 (beaten)
cornflour 100 g
Chinese 5 spice 1 tsp
onion 1 (diced)
bell pepper 2 (diced)
ketchup 2 tbsp
sweet chilli sauce 2 tbsp
rice vinegar 50 ml
caster sugar 50 g
soy sauce 2 tbsp
orange juice 50 ml
spring onions 2 (sliced)
basmati rice 240 g
sunflower oil 400 ml
Method
Marinate & fry the chicken
Chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces. In a bowl, whisk the egg with a pinch of salt and add the chicken and mix well to coat.
In another bowl, mix the cornflour and the Chinese 5 Spice. Then dredge the chicken in this until fully coated. Shake off any excess.
You will need enough sunflower oil so that the chicken is covered when you fry it. Heat the oil in a deep pan until it reaches 185°C. If you don't have a thermometer you can test the oil by dropping a breadcrumb into it, if it sizzles right away and turns golden-brown, then it's ready to use.
Carefully lower the chicken into the pan and fry it for around 4 minutes, or until it reaches an internal temperature of at least 75°C. I like to do this in two batches so as not to overcrowd the pan. Remove the chicken from the pan and drain on kitchen paper.
Prep the vegetables and make the sauce
Dice the onion and bell pepper. Heat a dash of oil in a frying pan then add the peppers and onion and cook for a few minutes.
Make the sauce by stirring in the caster sugar, ketchup, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sweet chilli sauce and orange juice and mix well. Simmer gently until it thickens then toss through the chicken and make sure it is heated through.
Cook the rice
While the sauce is cooking, cook the rice according to the packet instructions.
Plate Up
Thinly slice the spring onions. Plate up the sweet and sour chicken with the rice, scatter the spring onions on top and enjoy!
