Sweet and sour chicken balls with egg fried rice

Ingredients

Chicken balls

• 600 g chicken breast, cut into 3 cm chunks
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp cornflour
• 100 g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• Splash of water
• Oil for frying

Sweet & sour sauce

• 200 ml pineapple juice (from the tin)
• 100 ml rice vinegar
• 100 g sugar
• 4 tbsp tomato ketchup
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp cornflour mixed with 3 tbsp cold water

Egg fried rice

• 300 g cooked jasmine rice (cold, day-old is best)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3 spring onions, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp neutral oil

Method

1. Batter. Whisk egg, flours, baking powder, salt, and just enough water to make a thick coating batter.
2. Fry (or air-fry) chicken. Heat oil to 170 °C. Coat chicken chunks in batter, drop in carefully, fry 4–5 minutes until puffed and golden. Drain on a rack. (Air-fryer option: preheat to 200 °C, spritz the basket with oil, arrange battered chunks in a single layer with space between them, spritz the tops lightly. Cook 10–12 minutes, flipping at 6 min, until golden and cooked through. Work in two batches — don’t crowd.)
3. Sauce. Combine pineapple juice, vinegar, sugar, ketchup, soy in a pan. Bring to a simmer. Stir in cornflour slurry, cook 1 minute until glossy.
4. Egg fried rice. Heat oil in a wok. Add garlic, stir 30 seconds. Push to one side, scramble eggs in the other. Add rice, soy, sesame oil, break up clumps, toss everything for 2 minutes over high heat. Stir in spring onions off heat.
5. Combine. Toss chicken balls in the sauce (or serve sauce on the side for max crisp).
6. Plate. Pile rice in bowls, chicken on top, scatter with extra spring onion.

Tips

• Cold rice is the key to good fried rice. Hot rice = mushy fried rice.
• If you want to keep the chicken crispy, serve the sauce on the side for dipping rather than tossing.
• Add a drained tin of pineapple chunks to the sauce for the classic “hong kong style” vibe.