INGREDIENTS
- 18 oz Boneless skinless chicken breast (Cut in 1" cubes)
- ½ cup Corn starch
- Vegetable oil for deep frying Or canola, sunflower, grapeseed oil, or any neutral flavour oil
Chicken Marinade
- 2 tsp Sugar
- 1 tsp Salt
- ¼ tsp White pepper
- 1 tsp Sesame oil
- 1 tbsp Garlic paste ( Finely grated garlic ) Or 1tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Cornstarch
Batter
- 1 cup Plain flour Or all purpose flour
- ½ cup Cornstarch Or potato starch
- 1 tsp Baking soda Or Bicarbonate of soda
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 cup Water Add more water if needed
Dipping Sauce
- 4 tbsp Ketchup
- 1 tbsp Tomato Puree Or tomato concentrate
- 4 tbsp White vinegar
- 3 tbsp Sugar
- ½ cup Water
- 1 tsp Cornstarch
- ½ tsp Salt
DIRECTIONS
Marinade the chicken
- Cut the chicken breast into 1" dices. Place them in a large mixing bowl and add all the seasoning ingredients, salt, sugar, white pepper, sesame oil, garlic paste, corn starch, and baking soda. Mix well, set aside, and marinate for 15-30 minutes. ( If you have more time you can leave it for 1 hour. )
Make Sweet and Sour Sauce
- In a small saucepan, combine all the sweet and sour sauce ingredients, ketchup, vinegar, sugar, tomato puree, water, corn starch and salt. Mix well until corn starch dissolved, then turn on the heat to low-medium. Stir continuously until the sauce is thicken to desire consistency. Turn off the heat and let it cool down.
Batter and Frying
- Combine plain flour, corn starch, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Pour the cold water in, whisk well and make it into smooth batter. ( The batter should be medium thick. Add more water if needed. )
- Add ½ cup of corn starch in the chicken marinade, coat each chicken piece with the corn starch. Then dip into the batter and turn to coat evenly.
- Fry the battered chicken pieces with pre-heated high heat oil for 2-3 minutes until light brown. ( about 350° F/ 180° C ) Remove from oil and set aside for 4-5 minutes. Repeat the process to remaining chicken pieces.
- Then reheat the oil back to 350° F/ 180° C , fry the chicken 2nd time for 2-3 minutes until crispy golden brown. Remove from oil and transfer to cooling rack or paper towel.
NOTES
Frying Tips
- Do not overcrowd the oil because overcrowding can drop down the oil temperature and the chicken balls can get greasy. Fry with batches if needed.
- After frying each batch, clear the oil with a mesh strainer to prevent the oil get burnt and cloudy.
Baking Or Air Frying Option
- Deep frying creates the best result however if you wish to bake or air fry the chicken balls, shallow fry them with less oil until light brown then bakes in a pre-heated oven or air-fryer until crispy golden brown.
Can you make it ahead?
- You can prep everything ahead and single fry the chicken balls for 2-3 minutes until lightly golden. Let them cool down, and store them in the fridge. Deep fry until crispy golden brown for 2-3 minutes until golden brown just before serving.
Tips and storage for dipping sauce
- You can make an extra sauce and store it in an air-tight container for later use with other recipes like spring rolls or wontons.
- The level of sweetness or sourness can be adjusted by adding more or less sugar and white vinegar.
You could also cut the chicken into strips and make them into chinese chicken fingers rather than the smaller balls size. (See below)
Now see how they are made into Chicken Fingers.
INGREDIENTS
- 1.5 chicken breast
- neutral flavored frying oil (vegetable, canola, peanut)
Marinade
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp white or black pepper
- ½ tsp msg
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
Batter
- 1.5 cup self-raising flour
- 1 cup water
Sweet & Sour Sauce
- 1/3 cup Ketchup
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1/3 cup vinegar
- 1/3 cup water
- Cornstarch Slurry (optional)
DIRECTIONS
- Cut your chicken into cubes, slices or whatever shape you like 🦖
- Season with salt, white pepper, MSG, baking soda, Chinese cooking wine.
- For the batter, mix self-raising flour and water. If you’re using normal flour, add baking powder.
- Velveted chicken into the batter. Mix until each piece is coated evenly.
- Heat cold oil in a hot wok to 350F.
- Gently add chicken one piece at a time. Separate any pieces that stick. Flip so they brown evenly. Each piece takes about 3 min to cook.
- Strain and set aside. Reheat your oil for the next batch or to optionally double fry for extra crispiness.
- For the sweet and sour sauce, add the above ingredients in a wok.
- Mix thoroughly. Heat to a boil and reduce until desired consistency. Optionally add cornstarch slurry to thicken.
Chinese Chicken Balls/Tenders EXACTLY LIKE TAKEOUT