Not Sweet Chili Chicken

Well... not exactly not sweet chili chicken, it is but it isn't... if you know what I mean.

There are so many different recipes for sweet chili chicken on the Internet (I use the term 'different' loosely here, it's a kind of same-same-but-different situation). Sweet chili chicken shouldn't be confused with sweet and sour chicken, it's two different things.

My grey bearded hunkaburninlove doesn't really like, what he terms, the 'strong' flavours associated with traditional Chinese cuisine and sweet chili chicken is the perfect way for me to make the regular recipe a bit more chinesey, interesting and not as sweet.

Many of us grew up with some version of home made 'chinese' stir fry, which was basically adding Worcestershire sauce and sweet chili sauce to some meat (pork or beef) and veggies (mostly cabbage and carrot). Growing up in South Africa during the 60's and 70's there wasn't such a thing as take aways, let alone Chinese take away. My first introduction to proper Chinese food was when I was about 12 years old, my parents took us with to a kind of farewell meal (we were moving from Durban to Boksburg) and this was at a Chinese restaurant. With my very first sip of the chicken soup I was hooked! Every dish they brought out was more exotic than the previous and I loved everything even the crisp pastry and preserved stem ginger served with jasmine tea at the end of the meal! It was the first time I realised that there is life after Worcestershire and sweet chili stir fry and this is probably where my interest in food and cooking was sparked!

But let me get back to not, not sweet chili chicken... It's fairly basic, it's chicken and, well, sweet chili! I kid you not!! What makes my version not sweet chili chicken is that I add more traditional Chinese ingredients and flavours. I Absolutely love not just Chinese but all oriental/eastern food and flavours and this is a way for me to get my kick but not overwhelm my hunkaburninlove.

I add fresh ginger and garlic, a dash of allspice, light and dark soy, it's the dark soy that makes my sauce much darker and a lot more savory and rich than her unsoyed sister. Once the chicken is ready for the sauce I stir in a very generous, big ass, pinch of chopped fresh coriander, then add the prepared chicken, give it a stir to coat and serve.

I prefer serving the sauced chicken over rice, not just any rice, coconut rice!! All you do is make your regular rice recipe, just substitute two thirds of the water with coconut milk! Easy peasy tasty ricey!!

Just before serving I always add grating of lemon zest and a scattering of finely chopped coriander, it finishes the rich, sweetish rice off perfectly!

To finish it all off I top the whole shebang with fresh coriander, chopped fresh chili and chopped spring or red onion, it just balances out all the richness of the rest the components.

You will notice that I use the stalks and leaves of the coriander.

Not Sweet Chilli Chicken

Cut the Chicken into pieces

Make the batter

Mix the Chicken pieces with the batter

Deep fry the pieces taking care not to overcrowd the wok/pan

Make the sauce and mix the fried chicken into the sauce

Serve over rice

Here's the recipe:

These quantities are 100% adjustable to suit your taste, but this is how I like it.

Ingredients:

For every ± 1kg Chicken breast fillets I use:

For the Frying Batter: 1/2 cup flour 1/4 cup cornstarch 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 cup water, ice cold

1 egg white 15ml oil 2.5ml salt

For the Sauce;

200ml Thai sweet chili sauce (if I use Bottled I use Wellingtons if I don’t have the bottled Thai sweet chili)

2 fat cloves of Garlic - finely chopped

5cm piece of fresh Ginger - finely grated

30-40ml Soy

20ml dark Soy

5ml Allspice ¼ bag of fresh coriander - chopped

Zest and juice of about half a Lemon

Method:

Cut the chicken into bite size pieces (± 3cm chunks)

Mix the water, flour and corn starch to make a smooth paste, add the rest of the frying batter ingredients and mix thoroughly.

The batter must be as thick as thickish crepe batter.

Heat up a wok/deep pan with about 5cm of oil.

As soon as the oil is fully heated to about 180˚C

Deep-fry the batter coated chicken chinks until golden brown, flipping them regularly.

Transfer the chicken to a cooling rack placed over a baking sheet.

Clean the wok/pan and heat a bit of oil on medium heat.

Stir-fry the garlic and ginger until aromatic, taking care not to burn the garlic.

Add the rest of the sauce ingredients and simmer for a minute.

Taste and add more soy if you think it needs more salt

Add the lemon zest and squeeze the lemon juice into the sauce, stir to combine.

Add the fried chicken and stir to coat.

Serve over rice or noodles

And please note, no seahorses were harmed...