Good morning everyone, hope your all doing well. This past week has been very up and down…Firstly, lets start off with the not-so-great things that happened – Had a phone consultation with the Doctor after having to send pictures about my right foot (which hasn’t been right for over a year now), who said that I needed to have an X-ray to check it out as he can clearly see it’s swollen and an unusual color, but he’s leaving it in our hands to get it done (meaning I’d have to go through the A&E procedure), which depending on the waiting time could end up taking hours, which is something that we can’t do this week as we have important appointments that cannot be missed. Another bad thing that happened was I actually lost the use of my legs on Sunday night for a little while (they’re fine now thankfully) so my parents had to help me get back into the lounge as I couldn’t physically move. Now on to the good things, I passed my online English course that I’ve been doing the past couple of weeks which I’m happy about as I’ve now gained another qualification! And we had a lovely video-call with Kim, Isaac and for a little while with Chris as well. We haven’t seen them in-person since before Christmas and with Isaac having been in hospital just after New year, we haven’t had a chance to have a video-call either, so it was really nice seeing all of them, even if it was through a screen!

Another good thing that actually happens today is that it’s my Mum and Dad’s anniversary, they’ve been together for 27 years and married for 26 of them! And something my sister and I did together as tradition for many years was make them a 3-course meal, we would try different cuisines but make sure it would be foods that they would enjoy, and I thought as inspiration from them, I would incorporate it into this weeks blog post, and as they are huge lovers of Chinese food and especially this dish, I thought I would share with you this quick Sweet n’ Sour ‘Chicken’ recipe…

Sweet and Sour ‘Chicken’

Ingredients:

For the batter:

• 1 Cup Tempura Batter Mix
• 2/3 Cup Ice-Cold Water
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
• 1 Dash Freshly Ground Black Pepper

For the “Chicken”:

• 12 ounces Quorn Meatless Pieces (thawed if frozen)
• 1/2 Cup Chopped Bell Peppers (i like to mix it up each time)
• 1/3 Cup Chopped Fresh Pineapple
• 1/2 Small Onion, diced (yellow or red works or use both)
• Cooking oil (like vegetable)

For the Sweet and Sour Sauce:

• 1 1/4 Cups Water
• 1 tbsp Cornflour Mixed With 1 tbsp Water
• 2 1/2 Tablespoons Ketchup
• 2 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
• 1 tbsp Rice Vinegar
• 2 tbsp Sugar

Method:

Make the batter:
Whisk together tempura mix, ice-cold water, salt, and pepper in a large bowl until well combined. Use ¾ cup water for a thinner batter.

Next, fill a large skillet with enough oil to rise ½ inch up the sides. Set over medium heat. To test if the oil is ready, you can use a thermometer (aim for 350°F) or drop a small piece of batter into the oil (if it sizzles, then the oil is ready).

Prepare the “chicken”:
Dip the Quorn Meatless Pieces in the batter, then shake off excess and carefully drop them into the hot oil in one layer. Cook in batches if needed, 2 to 3 pieces at a time. Shallow fry until golden-brown, about 3 to 5 minutes, turning occasionally so the pieces cook properly. Note: If it’s browning too quickly, you can lower the heat a little.

Remove the fried pieces with a skimmer, shake off excess oil, then transfer them to a baking sheet pan. Skim any tempura bits from the oil before you fry the next batch and save them to use as toppings for other dishes.

Make the sweet and sour sauce:
Whisk together water, cornflour, ketchup, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sugar until well combined.

Set a skillet over medium heat and add a drizzle of cooking oil. Sauté the bell peppers and onion for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the sweet and sour sauce, pineapple, and bring the mixture to a boil.

Once the sauce starts to thicken to your desired consistency (it should just coat the back of a spoon), add the fried meatless pieces.

Quickly toss the fried meatless pieces until well coated in the sauce, then taste and season with more soy sauce, if needed.

Serve warm with a bowl of rice (I like to pair mine with Egg Fried Rice).

*If you like a lot of sauce in your sweet and sour ‘chicken’, then you may want to double the sauce ingredients (still use 1 tbsp of cornflour).* If you decide to make this dish I hope you enjoy it as much as my parents (and now I) do!

Thank you for coming to my blog and reading today’s post. I hope you all manage to stay warm and enjoy the rest of your week! Until next Wednesday, goodbye for now.