Cranberry & Orange Sweet n Sour Chicken Balls
Crispy chicken balls in a glossy orange-cranberry sauce — a festive twist on a takeaway favourite.
25 minutes prep
15 minutes cook
Serves 2
Ingredients
- 2large chicken breasts, cut into 3–4 cm chunks
- 120gplain flour
- 60gcornflour
- 1 tspbaking powder
- 1 tspsalt
- pinchwhite pepper
- 200ml cold sparkling water
- neutral oil for frying
- 150mlfresh orange juice
- zest½ an orange
- 2 tbspcranberry sauce (smooth or whole berry)
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tbsplight soy sauce
- 2–3 tbspsugar (adjust to taste)
- 1 tbspketchup
- 1garlic clove, grated
- 1 tspgrated ginger
- 1 tbspcornflour mixed with 2 tbsp water (slurry)
- steamed jasmine rice
- sesame seeds
- spring onions, finely chopped
- orange zest
Chicken balls:
Cranberry-orange sauce:
To serve:
Crispy chicken balls coated in a sweet and tangy orange-cranberry sauce. The combination of citrus, berry and soy gives a bright, balanced flavour that works perfectly with the crunchy fried chicken and fluffy rice.
Method
Mix flour, cornflour, baking powder, white pepper and salt, then whisk in cold sparkling water to form a smooth, thick batter.
Lightly dust chicken chunks in flour, then dip each piece into the batter.
Heat oil to 170–180°C and fry chicken for 4–6 minutes until golden and crisp.
In a saucepan, combine orange juice, zest, cranberry sauce, vinegar, soy, sugar, ketchup, garlic and ginger.
Simmer for 2–3 minutes, stirring until the cranberry dissolves.
Add cornflour slurry and cook for 1 minute until thick and glossy. At this point, taste and adjust sweetness or tanginess as needed.
Serve chicken balls over rice, spoon over the orange–cranberry sauce and garnish with spring onions, sesame seeds and orange zest.
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