Chinese New Year recipe focus: sweet and sour chicken
On 22nd January, nearly two billion people
worldwide will come together to celebrate the Chinese New Year, also known as
the Lunar New Year or the Spring Festival. 2023 sees the ushering in of the
Year of the Rabbit and saying goodbye to the Year of the Tiger. The last Year
of the Rabbit was 2011 and in Chinese culture, the rabbit symbolizes luck,
prosperity and peace, meaning 2023 is predicted to be a year of hope! If you’re
looking to celebrate in the city, you’ll be excited to know that the legendary
Dragon Parade is back after a two-year hiatus, plus plenty of live
performances, foodie stalls and, of course, Manchester’s famous red lanterns.
Find the details and plan your celebrations here.
Food is an essential part of the two weeks of celebration
for many communities across the world. Many dishes eaten such as spring rolls –
bringing wealth and fortune in their resemblance to bars of gold -, changshou
mian – “long-life noodles” which can be up to two feet long – and sweet
rice balls, represent harmony, luck and unity. It’s all about setting up the
year for prosperity, and that also means excluding unlucky or negative words
from your vocabulary during the Lunar New Year period!
Sweet and sour pork is another highly symbolic dish eaten
during the Chinese New Year and, believe it or not, it’s popular with families
hoping for a lot of grandchildren – “sour” in Cantonese sounds much like the
word for “grandchild”!
Though you may or may not be hoping for a lot of
grandchildren this year (!), this sweet and sour chicken recipe is the perfect
way to celebrate and welcome in the lucky Year of the Rabbit. Featuring the freshest chicken from Didsbury’s Little Pigs butchers and a homemade sweet and sour
sauce from scratch, it’s a delight to craft in the kitchen.
Ingredients:
200g boneless and
skinless chicken fillets (cut into bite-size cubes)
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 green pepper (seeds
removed and cut into squares)
1 spring onion (cut
into 2-inch lengths)
2 cloves garlic
(finely chopped)
Oil for frying
Batter:
200g
self-raising flour
200ml water
Sweet and Sour Sauce:
3 tablespoons ketchup
3 tablespoons chilli
sauce
1 teaspoon plum sauce
1/2 teaspoon Lea and
Perrins Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon rice
vinegar
1/2 teaspoon oyster
sauce
3 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon corn
flower
3 dashes white pepper
powder
2 tablespoons oil
Method:
1) Cut
the chicken breast meat into bite-size cubes and marinate with 1 tablespoon of
wine for 10 minutes.
2) Mix
the batter in a bowl and add the chicken cubes into the batter. Mix the sweet
and sour sauce in a small bowl and set aside.
3) Heat
up the cooking oil in a wok and deep fry the chicken cubes. (Shake off the
extra batter before frying).
4) Transfer
the chicken out on a plate, lined with paper towels to soak up the excess oil.
Transfer the cooking oil out and leave only 2 tablespoons of oil in the wok.
5) Add garlic and sauté until light brown, before then adding the green peppers. Stir-fry until you smell the aroma.
