This recipe for Sweet & Sour Chicken is the ultimate "fakeway" dish. Packed with all the rich flavour of the well-known classic, but with the goodness of quality ingredients and no nasties!
The accompaniment of crispy kale "seaweed" adds a whole extra dose of taste and texture, for a truly crowdpleasing feast.
Pat dry the chicken breast and cut them into bitesize pieces.
Break the egg in to a shallow bowl and whisk.
Add the cornflour to another shallow bowl, and the flour mixed with the salt, pepper salt and smoked paprika to a third shallow bowl.
Dip the chicken into the cornflour, then into the egg and then add the chicken to the seasoned flour. Repeat until each piece of chicken is coated thoroughly.
Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan until very hot.
Add the coated chicken to the pan and cook on high heat for 5 minutes, turn the heat down to medium heat and continue to cook for a further 3 minutes. Turn the chicken two or three times during cooking, until they are well browned. You may need to do this in two batches. Once the chicken is crispy, remove from the pan and place it in a bowl lined with kitchen towels.
Prepare your crispy kale "seaweed" by removing the stalks from the kale leaves. Place the leaves onto a baking sheet and coat with olive oil. Bake at 180C for approx. 20 minutes until the kale is crispy. Remove and set aside for now.
Prepare the vegetables for the sauce by chopping the peppers and onion into medium sized chunks. Mince the garlic and fresh ginger.
To make the sauce, pour the apple cider vinegar, tomato ketchup, honey and hoisin sauce into a bowl and mix thoroughly.
Add a drizzle of oil to a large, clean frying pan and heat to medium-to-high heat. Add the onions, stirring occasionally, until they go slightly translucent, roughly 3 minutes. Add the peppers and cook for a further minute.
Add the garlic and ginger and cook for another minute. Lastly, add the sauce, along with pineapple chunks and all of their juice. Bring to a boil and then turn down the heat and let it bubble.
Transfer the cooked, crispy chicken to the pan containing the sauce and toss until evenly coated. Add the water and continue to let it simmer for a few minutes.
Serve with fluffy rice or noodles, a sprinkling of chives, sesame seeds and, of course, plenty of the crispy kale. Tuck in!
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