This Candy and Bitter Rooster has been one in all our reader favourites for years!
We’ve received crispy but juicy chicken with a tangy sauce that’s completely balanced with simply the correct amount of sweetness. Wish to know the key to that impossible to resist crispy coating and the sauce that can have everybody asking for seconds? That is my home made crispy candy and bitter hen with a candy and tangy sauce constituted of scratch utilizing retailer cabinet components!
“The most effective candy and bitter, at all times a winner in my home, tremendous tasty” – Jacqui Reeves
🧾 Substances
What components offer you that candy and bitter hen with tangy, candy and effectively, bitter flavour?
The sauce is definitely fairly a weird mixture:
- Ketchup – and loads of it – for a tanginess and color. I don’t eat a number of ketchup, however it’s a should for this dish.
- Malt vinegar – it’s the greatest kind of vinegar I’ve discovered for getting the ‘proper’ contact of sourness.
- Brown sugar – for rounded sweetness, and to counteract any bitterness within the vinegar.
- Pineapple chunks in pineapple juice – yep, slightly than chopping up a recent pineapple, I discover pineapple chunks really work higher, and the juice is an all-important factor to the candy–tangy flavour of the sauce.
And naturally we’re doing this candy and bitter hen Hong Kong fashion – which implies the hen is chopped into bite-sized items, dredged in a flavourful coating then fried to crisp perfection, earlier than being coated in that candy and bitter sauce.
📺 Watch find out how to make it
***Full recipe with detailed steps within the recipe card on the finish of this publish***
👩🍳 make candy & bitter hen
We begin by coating the hen in cornflour (cornstarch), then egg after which seasoned flour. Then fry in oil till crispy. You are able to do this in two batches in case your pan is on the small aspect. I can nearly do it in a single batch in my wok. Then take away the crispy hen from the wok.
Professional Tip
Test the hen is absolutely cooked:
You wish to make sure the hen is absolutely cooked earlier than serving. Slice open one of many bigger items you could find, and ensure it’s not pink within the center. If it’s white with no pink areas, it’s cooked
Now onto the candy and bitter sauce. We fry onions and bell peppers in a wok till very flippantly softened (simply a few minutes), then add garlic and ginger, adopted by these all-important weird components: ketchup, malt vinegar, brown sugar and tinned pineapple (together with the juice). Convey it to a delicate boil.
Let the sauce bubble for a couple of minutes, so it thickens barely like this (it would thicken a bit of extra if you add the hen again in).
Then add in that crispy hen and punctiliously toss within the sauce. So tasty!!
Pin this now to search out it later
I like take out candy and bitter hen, however there are a few issues I don’t love:
- The sauce is too brilliant orange – like glow at nighttime orange. I’ve heard they use meals colouring to get it that vivid (does anybody know for positive? let me know within the feedback). Mine’s very crimson (from the ketchup) however the color is toned down by the addition of darkish brown sugar.
- The crisp coating is usually flavourless. It’s extra there for crunch, slightly than so as to add further flavour. I add additional seasoning and spices into my coating, so even with out the sauce, it tastes scrumptious.
Can bake the hen as an alternative of frying it?
Yep! I’ve a recipe for baked candy and bitter hen on the weblog too.
🥡 Extra takeaway impressed recipes
🍽️ What to serve it with
- Boiled rice – take a look at my full publish on find out how to boil rice.
- Egg Fried Rice – my private favorite aspect for this candy & bitter
- Particular Fried Rice – masterclass publish on getting it good!
- Some Stir Fried Noodles with beansprouts for a stunning noodle aspect dish.
- How about Salt & Pepper Chips – Chris likes to pour the sauce over these!
- Perhaps add a aspect of spare ribs? These are Asian fashion ribs topped with crispy onions, impressed by a restaurant we went to in China city in London.
Keep up to date with new recipes!
Subscribe to the publication to listen to after I publish a brand new recipe. I’m additionally on YouTube (new movies each week) and Instagram (behind-the-scenes tales & stunning meals photographs).
-
Warmth the oil in a wok or massive frying pan till very popular.
5 tbsp vegetable oil
-
While the oil is heating, place the egg in a single shallow bowl and the cornflour in one other shallow bowl. Add the flour, salt, pepper, garlic salt and paprika to a different shallow bowl and blend collectively.
2 eggs flippantly overwhelmed, 3 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch), 90 g (3/4 cup) plain flour (all-purpose flour), ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp pepper, ½ tsp garlic salt, 2 tsp paprika
-
Dredge the hen within the cornflour, then dip it within the egg (ensure that all the hen is roofed in egg wash), and at last dredge it within the seasoned flour. Repeat till you have coated all of the hen.
3 skinless hen breast fillets
-
Add to the wok and prepare dinner on a excessive warmth for 6-7 minutes, turning two or 3 times throughout cooking, till effectively browned. It’s possible you’ll have to prepare dinner in two batches (I discover I can do it in a single batch as long as it is not more than 3 hen breasts).
-
Test the hen is cooked (see notes) and take away from the pan and place in a bowl lined with kitchen towels.
-
While the hen is cooking, you can begin in your sauce.
-
Add the oil to a big frying pan/skillet, warmth it up on a medium-to-high warmth and add within the onions and the peppers . Prepare dinner for 3 minutes, stirring every so often, till the onions begin to go translucent.
1 tbsp vegetable oil, 1 massive onion, 1 crimson pepper, 1 inexperienced pepper
-
Add within the garlic and ginger and prepare dinner for one more minute.
2 cloves of garlic, 1 tsp minced ginger
-
Add the tomato ketchup, vinegar, darkish brown sugar, and the tinned pineapple (together with the juice) and stir. Convey to the boil, after which flip down the warmth and let it bubble, stirring from time to time, till barely thickened, ought to take 3-5 minutes.
150 ml (2/3 cup) tomato ketchup, 2 tbsp malt vinegar, 6 tbsp darkish brown muscovado sugar, 475 g (17 oz) canned pineapple chunks in juice
-
Switch the cooked crispy hen to the pan with the sauce and gently toss to coat.
-
Serve with boiled or fried rice and a sprinkling of sesame seeds.
egg fried rice or boiled rice, 1 tsp sesame seeds
Test the hen is cooked
You wish to make sure the hen is absolutely cooked earlier than serving. Slice open one of many bigger items you could find, and ensure it’s not pink within the center. If it’s white with no pink areas, it’s cooked
Dietary Info is per serving together with sesame seeds, however not rice (I don’t know the way a lot rice you’re going to serve this with :-))
Energy: 634kcal | Carbohydrates: 78g | Protein: 26g | Fats: 26g | Saturated Fats: 18g | Ldl cholesterol: 136mg | Sodium: 1086mg | Potassium: 850mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 47g | Vitamin A: 2018IU | Vitamin C: 78mg | Calcium: 80mg | Iron: 3mg
Diet data is robotically calculated, so ought to solely be used as an approximation.
This recipe was first printed in September 2019. Up to date in September 2024 with additional FAQs and housekeeping.
A few of the hyperlinks on this publish could also be affiliate hyperlinks – which implies in the event you purchase the product I get a small fee (at no additional price to you). For those who do purchase, then thanks! That’s what helps us to maintain Kitchen Sanctuary working. The dietary data offered is approximate and might differ relying on a number of components. For extra data please see our Phrases & Situations.
