Chinese sweet and sour chicken

Bee Yinn Low’s selected Chinese sweet-and-sour chicken combines crisp fried breast cubes with garlic, green bell pepper and a glossy, tangy sauce. Its sauce is intended to coat the pieces lightly so their fried texture remains distinct.

The selected recipe permits a Shaoxing-wine marinade before the chicken goes into an own flour, cornstarch, water and baking-powder batter. Excess batter is shaken off before the cubes enter the frying oil.

The golden chicken drains on paper, and most of the frying oil is discarded. Two tablespoons remain in the wok to start the garlic and green bell pepper before the sauce comes to a boil.

The own sauce combines ketchup, selected Lingham hot sauce, plum sauce, Worcestershire sauce, Chinese rice vinegar and oyster sauce with sugar, water, cornstarch and white pepper. Chicken returns to this mixture with optional tomato wedges, followed by scallion pieces.

The finished chicken is served immediately with separately prepared steamed white rice. Low also discusses pineapple as a replacement for the optional tomato, while this selected version keeps the tomato option and green bell pepper in its quick final toss.