Healthy Baked Sweet and Sour Crispy Chicken

Ingredients

• 350 g Chicken mini breast fillets (Keep the fillets whole.)
• 1 Egg white
• 1 tbsp Cornflour (Heaped)
• 5 tbsp Reduced-salt soy sauce (2 tsp for the chicken and 3 tbsp for the sauce)
• 1 tbsp Toasted sesame oil (1 tsp for the chicken and 2 tsp for stir-frying)
• Black pepper (Plenty)
• 150 g Jasmine rice (Uncooked weight)
• 1 Red pepper (Diced)
• 2 Carrots (Sliced into thin strips)
• 2 Tinned pineapple rounds (Diced; use the tin's juice for the sauce)
• 4 Spring onions (Sliced)
• Cucumber (To serve, sliced)
• 150 ml Pineapple juice (From the tin)
• 3 tbsp Ketchup
• 1.5 tbsp Tomato purée
• 3 tbsp Rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp Brown sugar or honey (Choose either brown sugar or honey)
• 3 Garlic (Grated)

Steps

1. 1

   Add the whole chicken mini fillets to a bowl with the egg white, cornflour, 2 tsp reduced-salt soy sauce, 1 tsp toasted sesame oil, and plenty of black pepper. Toss thoroughly until evenly coated, then leave for 10–15 minutes.

2. 2

   Cook the jasmine rice according to the packet instructions.

3. 3

   Mix together the pineapple juice, ketchup, tomato purée, rice vinegar, 3 tbsp reduced-salt soy sauce, brown sugar or honey, and grated garlic to make the sweet and sour sauce.

4. 4

   Dice the red pepper and pineapple, slice the carrots into thin strips, and slice the spring onions. Slice the cucumber for serving.

5. 5

   For the air-fryer method, preheat the air fryer at its maximum temperature for 5 minutes. Alternatively, for the oven method, heat the oven to 210°C fan.

6. 6

   Air-fry the chicken for 8–10 minutes, turning halfway, until golden, crisp, and cooked through. Alternatively, arrange the fillets with space between them on a lined baking tray and bake for 10 minutes, turning halfway; switch to a high grill for 2–3 minutes until deeply golden and crisp on the outside.

7. 7

   Meanwhile, heat the remaining 2 tsp toasted sesame oil in a large frying pan or wok. Add the red pepper and carrots, and stir-fry for 3–4 minutes until softened but still slightly crisp.

8. 8

   Add the diced pineapple to the pan, then pour in the sauce. Let everything bubble for 3–4 minutes, until the sauce has reduced slightly and looks glossy while remaining saucy.

9. 9

   Add the cooked chicken fillets to the pan and toss through the sauce for 30–60 seconds, until well coated.

10. 10

    Divide the cooked rice among three bowls. Spoon over the sweet and sour chicken and serve with sliced cucumber.

Notes

The source offers either an air-fryer method or an oven-grill method. The air-fryer temperature is given as the appliance's maximum setting. No quantity is specified for black pepper or cucumber. The description lists spring onions, but does not specify when to add them; they are omitted from the method.

Nutrition per serving

• main
• high-protein
• balanced
• air-fried
• oven-grilled
• sweet-and-sour
• weeknight