Crispy Chicken Balls with Sweet & Sour Sauce
Almost four years ago, I mentioned on this blog my disappointment with mediocre Chinese restaurants and their reliance on ready-made sauces. I've since rediscovered my love for Asian cuisine, finding vibrant restaurants beyond the typical tourist traps. My recent culinary journey has included revisiting and improving a favorite recipe: homemade sweet and sour chicken. Making my own sauce, free from preservatives, is surprisingly easy and well worth the effort.
Almost four years ago, I mentioned on this blog my disappointment with mediocre Chinese restaurants and their reliance on ready-made sauces. I've since rediscovered my love for Asian cuisine, finding vibrant restaurants beyond the typical tourist traps. My recent culinary journey has included revisiting and improving a favorite recipe: homemade sweet and sour chicken. Making my own sauce, free from preservatives, is surprisingly easy and well worth the effort.
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 2 egg whites
- oil for frying
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 4 chicken breasts
- 1 medium onion
- 4 tablespoons soysauce
- 2 cloves garlic (crushed)
- 200 grams potato flour
- sweet and sour sauce:
- 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
- 1/2 green pepper
- 1/2 red pepper
- 1/2 yellow pepper
- 3 spring onions
- 1 teaspoon ginger (finely chopped)
- 5 tablespoons tomato ketchup
- 4 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 4 tablespoons caster sugar
- 200 ml chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch (heaped)
- Carbohydrate 81.2073751137588 g
- Cholesterol 139.9232620448 mg
- Fat 39.5246581575635 g
- Fiber 7.55495829622618 g
- Protein 70.0027842162741 g
- Saturated Fat 4.54283336059928 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (783g)
- Sodium 1367.77561383761 mg
- Sugar 73.6524168175327 g
- Trans Fat 2.73580967149469 g
- Calories 951 calories
Step-by-step
- Clean chicken breasts and cut into 1-2 cm pieces. Whisk egg whites, garlic and soy sauce and marinade the chicken pieces for at least 1 hour. In the meantime, prepare the ingredients for the sauce. Peel the onion and cut into 1 cm pieces, then cut the peppers and spring onions into thin strips.
- Heat plenty of oil in your fryer or a deep pan on the stove. Roll the chicken pieces in potato flour so they're evenly covered. Shake off any excess.
- To prepare the sauce, heat sesame and grape seed oil in a wok or other suitable pan, fry the onions for 2 minutes until just softening. Add ginger, spring onions and pepper medley and continue to fry for 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato ketchup, vinegar, soy sauce, sugar and corn starch and pour over the chicken stock. Season with salt and leave to thicken.
- In the meantime, fry the chicken pieces in the hot oil for about 10 minutes until crispy and browning. Just before serving, fold into the sweet & sour sauce and offer with fluffy steamed basmati rice.
The Potato Flour Starch Advantage
Potato flour does the heavy lifting in this recipe by creating an exceptionally light, crisp coating that absorbs less oil than standard wheat flour due to its high starch gelatinization properties. When coating the marinated pieces, shaking off excess powder prevents loose clumps from burning in the hot oil and keeps the frying medium clean for longer cooking batches. This root-derived starch yields a distinct shatteringly crisp shell when subjected to high heat because it contains virtually no gluten to toughen the exterior structure.Frying Equipment and Temperature Control
Maintaining consistent oil heat around 375 degrees Fahrenheit is crucial for preventing the chicken from becoming greasy during the ten-minute cooking window. A heavy-bottomed cast iron pan or a dedicated deep fryer helps stabilize temperature fluctuations when cold pieces are dropped into the fat. Because using a thermometer is impractical with rapidly moving frying batches, visual doneness is judged entirely by the crust achieving a golden-brown hue and floating to the surface as moisture inside the meat turns to steam.Emulsifying the Glossy Sauce
The vibrant sauce relies on cornstarch acting as a thickening agent when heated alongside chicken stock, vinegar, and sugar. Whisking the cornstarch thoroughly into the cold stock before adding it to the wok prevents lump formation through proper starch hydration. Simmering this mixture until it turns glossy ensures the starch molecules fully swell, creating a cohesive glaze that clings to the fried meat without pooling at the base of the serving dish.
