Chinese Takeout Favorite (Print Version)

# Ingredients:

01 - 500 g Chicken breast About 18 oz ( Boneless skinless chicken breast ) Cut in 1" cubes.
02 - ½ cup Corn starch
03 - Vegetable oil for deep frying Or canola, sunflower, grapeseed oil, or any neutral flavour oil

→ Chicken Marinade

04 - 2 tsp Sugar
05 - 1 tsp Salt
06 - ¼ tsp White pepper
07 - 1 tsp Sesame oil
08 - 1 tbsp Garlic paste ( Finely grated garlic ) Or 1tsp garlic powder
09 - ½ tsp Baking Soda
10 - 1 tsp Cornstarch

→ Batter

11 - 1 cup Plain flour Or all purpose flour
12 - ½ cup Cornstarch Or potato starch
13 - 1 tsp Baking soda Or Bicarbonate of soda
14 - ½ tsp Salt
15 - 1 cup Water Add more water if needed

→ Dipping Sauce

16 - 4 tbsp Ketchup
17 - 1 tbsp Tomato Puree Or tomato concentrate
18 - 4 tbsp White vinegar
19 - 3 tbsp Sugar
20 - ½ cup Water
21 - 1 tsp Cornstarch
22 - ½ tsp Salt

# Instructions:

01 - 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. )
02 - 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.
03 - 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. )
04 - 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.
05 - 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.
06 - 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:

01 - 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.
02 - After frying each batch, clear the oil with a mesh strainer to prevent the oil get burnt and cloudy.
03 - 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.
04 - 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.
05 - 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.
06 - The level of sweetness or sourness can be adjusted by adding more or less sugar and white vinegar.

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