Chicken Manchurian
Crisp fried chicken pieces tossed in a glossy garlic, soy and chilli sauce with onion and capsicum. It's a popular Indo-Chinese dinner that goes well with fried rice or noodles.
Ingredients
Equipment: Deep frying pan or wok, slotted spoon, mixing bowls, kitchen paper
Method
In a bowl, mix the chicken with the ginger garlic paste, 1 tbsp soy sauce, black pepper and salt. Leave it for 15 minutes.
Add the egg, 3 tbsp cornflour and the plain flour to the chicken. Stir until each piece has a thin, sticky coating. If it looks dry, add 1 tbsp water.
Heat 500 ml oil in a deep pan over medium-high heat until a pinch of batter sizzles straight away, about 170°C.
Fry the chicken in two batches, without crowding the pan, for 4 to 5 minutes each. The pieces should be golden and crisp, and the chicken should reach 74°C inside.
Lift the chicken out with a slotted spoon and drain it on kitchen paper. Carefully pour the frying oil into a heatproof container to cool.
Heat 2 tbsp fresh oil in a wok or wide pan over high heat. Fry the garlic, ginger, green chillies and spring onion whites for 30 seconds until fragrant but not browned.
Add the onion and capsicum and stir-fry for 2 minutes. The vegetables should be slightly softened but still crunchy.
Stir in 2 tbsp soy sauce, the chilli sauce, ketchup, vinegar, sugar and the water or stock. Bring to a boil.
Stir the cornflour slurry, then pour it in while stirring. Simmer for 1 to 2 minutes until the sauce turns glossy and coats the back of a spoon. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper.
Add the fried chicken and toss for 1 minute so it is coated in sauce. Serve straight away, topped with the spring onion greens.
Cooking tips
- Cut the chicken into even pieces so they cook at the same rate and stay juicy.
- For extra crunch, fry the chicken a second time for 1 minute after the first batch has rested for 5 minutes.
- Add the chicken to the sauce just before serving. If it sits in the sauce, the coating turns soft.
- Keep the heat high when cooking the vegetables so they stay crisp instead of stewing.
Substitutions
- Use boneless chicken thigh for softer, juicier pieces, or breast for a leaner result.
- Replace the chilli sauce with 1 tsp crushed red chillies and an extra teaspoon of ketchup.
- Use rice vinegar or lemon juice in place of white vinegar.
- For a lighter version, bake the coated chicken at 220°C for 20 minutes, turning once, or shallow-fry it.
Serve with
"Serve with egg fried rice or vegetable chowmein and a small bowl of sliced green chillies in vinegar. For a lighter meal, serve it with steamed rice and stir-fried greens."
Storage
Keep the chicken and sauce together in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. For the best texture, store any leftover fried chicken separately from the sauce.
Reheating
Warm the sauce in a pan with a splash of water until it bubbles, then add the chicken and heat until steaming hot, at least 74°C. Crisp the chicken in an air fryer at 180°C for 4 minutes first if you like.
Nutrition per serving, estimated
Not shown for this recipe because it can’t be estimated reliably (for example, oil absorbed during deep frying varies a lot).
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