Wendell's Sweet Sour Chicken

My pal Fay emailed me the link to this recipe.  She said to show it to Wendell.  I did and he took the bait.   

I'm so glad that he did because it was soooo ono.  I took one bite and any thoughts of my diet went out da door.  The recipe is from Just One Cookbook.

Ingredients

• 2 chicken thighs (11 oz, 312 g)
• 3 potatoes
• 3 inch lotus root (renkon)
• ½ carrot
• 1 Japanese/Chinese eggplant
• ½ onion
• ½ green pepper
• ½ cup potato starch/cornstarch
• 3 cups neutral-flavored oil (vegetable, rice bran, canola, etc) (for deep frying)

Marinade:

• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp sake
• 1 tsp ginger (grated, include juice)
• 1 clove garlic

Black Vinegar Sauce:

• 4 Tbsp sugar
• 3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp black vinegar (If you use Chinese black vinegar, use ½ Tbsp as it has a stronger flavor)
• 1 Tbsp mirin
• 1 Tbsp water
• 1 Tbsp sake
• 2 tsp potato starch/cornstarch

Instructions

Gather all the ingredients.

Make the marinade. Grate the ginger and garlic. Combine the ginger, garlic, soy sauce and sake in a large bowl.

Trim off and discard any excess fat from the chicken, then cut the meat into bite size pieces and add them to the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 10 min.

Combine all the ingredients for Black Vinegar Sauce and mix well together.

Cut the potato in half and carrot into small pieces. 

Potatoes and carrots take too long to deep fry; therefore we boil them first for 10 minutes until they are tender. Drain and set aside.

Cut the lotus root to ⅛" (3 mm) slices and eggplant into ½” (1.3 cm) slices.

Cut onion and green peppers in wedges and cut half in length-wise.

In a deep fryer or heavy-bottomed pot, add 3 cups of oil. Depending on the size of your pot, you will need more or less oil to have at least 2 inches (5 cm) of oil in the pot.  Preheat the oil to 340ºF (170ºC). Using a paper towel, pat dry the vegetables before you add them to the oil. Deep fry until they’re tender. Be careful not to over/under cook. When they’re done, drain the oil on a wire rack or paper towel.

Next, coat the chicken in potato starch and deep fry at 340ºF (170ºC) for 5 minutes or until golden brown. If the chicken is being browned too quickly, adjust the heat and make sure the chicken is cooked through. Drain the oil well on a wire rack or paper towel.

When the chicken is done deep frying, heat the wok and toss the deep-fried vegetables and chicken together. When they are re-heated evenly, pour the Black Vinegar Sauce over the chicken and vegetables, toss and combine. Transfer to a plate and serve.

ADDENDUM:

Wendell first went to Marukai and could only find black vinegar in the Health section.  He bought the vinegar in the red box on the left for $13.70.  He then went to the Asian Market on Beretania and found the Chinese vinegar for $3.50.  Wendell used the red-box one.