Chinese style sweet and sour chicken meatballs

On the last weekend my girls asked for sweet and sour meatballs like we ate in a Chinese restaurant a month ago that they really loved. I tried few variations of sweet and sour meatballs, some came out inedible, but this one I believe is very close to the source.



Usually, in the restaurants, they make the sweet and sour meatballs from small pieces of chicken breast, the problem is that I wasn't able to make them round (my oldest said that they MUST BE round and I can't disappoint)

So I decided to first make round chicken meatballs in a Chinese style, and only than dip them in the batter, they will have to come out round, they just have no choice!

When the chicken meatball came out of the oil they were heavenly, crispy and crunchy from the outside and soft and tasty from the inside.
If you can, you should serve them immediately. Preferably with the sauce next to them for dipping

If you can't serve them immediately (and I couldn’t) it would be better to cook them for an extra minute with the sweet and sour sauce.
They won't be crispy but they will still taste great.

I know that you can leave them in the oven on a very low hit and they will remain crispy until you will decide to serve them, I personally never tried this method so I am not promising anything.

Ingredients:

For the chicken meatballs:

Enough oil for deep frying

700 gr minced chicken breast

1 onion-finally chopped

1 green apple - peeled and finally chopped

2 Tbsp soy sauce

2 Tbs corn flour

1 egg

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 Tbs sesame oil

Sweet and sour meatballs ingredient


 






For the batter:

2 cups self rising flour

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups of water

1/2 tsp salt



For the sweet and sour sauce:

16 Tbs vinegar

16 Tbs sugar

4 cups of water

4 Tbs corn flour melted in 2 Tbs of cold water

2 tsp salt

2 Tbs sweet chili sauce

Note: We love a lot of sweet and sour sauce so I doubled the ingredients for the sauce; if you don’t need a lot of sauce you can cut the sauce ingredients by half.

How to...

1. Start with preparing the chicken meatballs
2. In a bowl large enough place the minced chicken breast
3. Add the chopped apple
4. Add the chopped onion
5. Mix it all together: I prefer to work with my hands
6. Add the soy sauce and the sesame oil
7. Add the egg and the corn flour
8. Mix well, Form into medium balls (work with wet hands) and place them in the freezer for 15 minutes

Now it's the time to start with the sweet and sour sauce

9.  In a cooking pot place the sugar, vinegar, water and sweet chili sauce, let it cook for 1 minute on a medium hit
10. Add the melted corn flour and cook for another 3 minutes
11. Taste the sauce and add salt and pepper to your liking

Now we are going to start with the batter


12. Place the self rising flour in a bowl, add the eggs and the water, mix well Season with the salt

Now it's time to start the frying

13. If you have a deep fryer than it is the best solution, if you don’t (and I usually don’t) I just use a small cooking pot or a wok and half fill it with oil, I usually throw inside the oil a small piece of carrot, when I see the bubbles surrounding the carrot I know that the oil is ready.
14. Now you can start frying the chicken meatballs.
15. Place them in the batter and fry them in small batches until they are golden brown That will take approximately 2-3 minutes.
16. Serve them with the sweet and sour sauce next to them or cook them for few seconds inside the sauce (they will be softer)

Enjoy!