Lollipop Chicken & Sides

Masterchef Australia is a religion in our home and for this dinner we were inspired by the winner of Masterchef Australia 2011 Adam Liaw. He posted these mouth watering Karaage Chicken Wings which we just had to try. This meal can make a great tapas-y snack for 4 people or a dinner for 2 with some leftovers. Creating the lollipops was a new fun technique which we really enjoyed learning but it definitely makes the wings dangerously easily to finish as you can eat them in almost one bite!

Despite all the elements this is a really easy and tasty dish that hits all the important taste notes and is a really beautiful dish to present to a group of people or that special someone. Making the lollipops is the only technical step and is optional.

Serves: 4 (Tapas) 2 (Dinner)

Time: 1h30

Difficulty: w/lollipops- technically demanding; without- easy

Ingredients

Lollipop Chicken

• 500g Chicken Wings

• 2 Tbsp light soy sauce

• 2 Tbsp dark soy sauce

• 2 Tbsp Sriracha sauce

• 2 Tbsp Mirin

• 2 cloves garlic

• 3cm chunk of ginger grated

• 1 cup cornstarch

• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs

• Vegetable oil for frying

Stir-fried Greens

• 50g Baby asparagus

• 50g Green Beans

• 4 rashers Bacon

• 1/2 a Red Onion sliced

• 1 Tbsp Salted Butter

• 1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

• Black Pepper

Sweet and Sour Aubergine

• 1 Aubergine

• Sweet and Sour Sauce

• Sesame Seeds

• 1 Tbsp Sesame Oil

Pickled Slaw

• 25g Red Cabbage shredded

• 25g White Cabbage Shredded

• 5 Radishes grated

• 1 Red Onion Sliced

• 2 Tbsp Rice Wine vinegar

• 2 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

• 1 Tbsp maple syrup

• Salt & Pepper

Method:

Lollipop Chicken

1. Making the lollipop shapes is a time consuming but visually pleasing step but is completely optional, you can find a video showing how to create the lollipops here

2. For the marinade combine the sauces, mirin, ginger and garlic in a bowl and mix before adding the lollipops, leave to marinade for at least 10 minutes

3. In a separate bowl mix together the cornstarch and breadcrumbs

4. Coat the lollipops in the breadcrumb mixture and set aside

5. Heat oil in a small saucepan to 80 C and fry wings in batches for 4 minutes

Stir-fried Greens

1. Add diced bacon to a cold wok and put in on medium heat to render the fat out slowly

2. Once the bacon fat has rendered increase the heat and add the red onion, asparagus and green beans

3. Stir fry for about 5 minutes until the greens begin to soften

4. Add the butter and apple cider vinegar and cook for a further 2-3 minutes before removing from the heat and seasoning with pepper

Sweet and Sour Aubergine

1. Slice the aubergine in half lengthways and then cut into 1cm slices

2. Marinade in the sweet and sour sauce for at least 20 minutes

3. Add sesame oil to a pan on medium heat and fry the aubergine until browning and crispy

4. Toast sesame seeds on medium-low heat before covering the finished aubergine with them

Pickled Slaw

1. Mix together the shredded cabbage, radish and red onion in a small bowl

2. Dress it with the vinegars and maple syrup and season to taste!

Happy Cooking! x

#Karaage #Chicken #Lollipop #Asparagus #Greenbeans #Stirfry #Aubergine #Slaw #Asian