Without a doubt this is the dish I am most proud of making. It's also my girlfriend's favourite, so I love cooking this for us on a night in. It's amazingly comforting, fairly simple to do, and absolutely delicious.
It's also far better than any Chinese takeaway dish I've had, and I'm not afraid to say it.
This is the second part of my authentic Chinese takeaway dish, and should be served with the egg fried rice I made previously.
You'll need:
Chicken breasts
4 large eggs
Cornflour
Carrots
Chili
Spring onions
1 garlic clove
Fresh ginger
A lime
Soy sauce
Sweet chilli sauce
Toasted sesame oil
A bottle of vegetable oil (for frying)
Start by chopping the veg. The theme we're going with here is strips. Everything needs to be cut into strips. OK, not everything, but pretty much all of it. This part can get very time consuming. Be careful when cutting as you'll be cutting close to the hand.
Slice the carrots (use one per person) into thin sticks, as I have done below.
Next, prepare the spring onions. Cut these up finely.
The ginger needs to be cut into matchsticks. Take around two inches of ginger, cut off the outside layer, and cut down into thin strips. Then, cut each strip into thin matchsticks.
Cut down the middle of the chilli, and remove the seeds. You can keep these in if you like, but you're looking at a serious kick if you do. If you'd prefer to keep them in, by all means do, but I prefer them removed.
Once you've removed the seeds, chop into slices.
Next, slice the garlic clove up. keep it sliced, rather than going for crushing.
Pour a bottle of vegetable oil into a large pot, and place this on a mid-high heat.
Use extreme caution from here on out. Hot oil is dangerous, and burns are excruciatingly painful. Oil fires aren't a lot of fun either. Be careful.
While the oil is heating, use a sharp knife to cut the chicken. Again, this needs to be cut into thin strips.
I did actually buy too much, but I'm going to commit and cook this anyway. I'm cooking the whole lot and then I've got some saved for the following day. This could also be frozen and saved for a rainy day. There's a lot of them in the UK, after all.
When you've done this, crack some eggs into a bowl. I've stated on here to use four large eggs. When I went shopping, the only ones available were medium, so I've used six here.
This will create a thick batter. If you want it thicker, which is a good idea as it needs to coat the chicken, add another spoonful and whisk in.
Once you've got the consistency you want, drizzle in some soy sauce, and whisk again.
You'll be left with something that looks like this. Add the chicken pieces in, and use your hands to mix everything in together, making sure that the chicken is completely coated in the batter.
At this stage, it's time to cook the chicken. Remember - use extreme caution here. Use a metal utensil to carefully lower the battered chicken into the hot oil. When all the chicken has been added, let this cook away. By the time you need it, it'll be cooked through.
At this stage I'd actually give everything a quick wash. It's all pretty intense from here so while the chicken is cooking, wash stuff up. The chicken needs to cook anyway, so the the washing out of the way.
When you're ready, grab two woks. One is for the egg fried rice from the previous post, the other is for putting this dish together.
Start by pouring some oil into the wok, this is the kind I prefer.
Cook the garlic slices first. They need to be toasted in the oil, so let them cook until they're golden brown. This will give them a nutty flavour, and will give the dish a lovely undertone.
Keep this veg moving for a couple of minutes, stir frying it.
Next, add some sweet chilli sauce. You'll need a pretty hefty bottle for this dish.
Add all the chicken, just be careful whilst doing so. Once you've added the chicken, reduce the heat to a medium level.
Give this a good mix, and carry on adding as I have done in the pictures above.
Once you've added all the chicken, pour in some more sweet chilli sauce.
Keep this moving, and add more sauce if you need to. Don't add all of it at once as you won't need it all, and you don't want to drown it completely. You're just after an even coating over the chicken.
When you've finished adding the sauce, give it another stir to stop it from burning. Give it a taste, and see what you think.
Finally, add the juice of half a lime, and mix in again. This will completely transform the flavour, enhancing everything.
That's it! That's my authentic Chinese takeaway style dish, crispy chilli chicken with egg fried rice.
Enjoy guys! This one's my pride and joy.
man that looks good....
ReplyDeleteTastes even better! Give it a go dude, and don't forget the lime juice, it transforms the dish completely!
ReplyDelete