Fried chicken with banana chilli catsup glaze

As soon as the chook comes out of the oil, I plunge it in sweet and sticky banana catsup (ketchup) to glaze instead of serving it on the side, and douse it in kalamansi juice and fiery sili (chilli).

Banana ketchup: enjoy it straight from the bottle or turn it into a sticky glaze. Credit: Under Coconut Skies

• serves

  4

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 1 red onion, finely grated
• 6 garlic cloves, finely grated
• 2 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
• 1 kg (2 lb 3 oz) boneless chicken thighs, halved, or mixed drumsticks, wings and thighs
• 75 g (½ cup) plain (all-purpose) flour
• 85 g (⅔ cup) cornflour (cornstarch)
• vegetable oil, for shallow-frying
• 5 kalamansi, halved, or 1 lime, cut into wedges, to serve
• 1 long red chilli, thinly sliced, to serve (seeds optional)

Chilli catsup glaze

• 160 ml (⅔ cup) banana catsup (ketchup)
• 150 g (5½ oz) caster (superfine) sugar
• 80 ml (⅓ cup) fish sauce
• 2 long green chillies, thinly sliced

Marinating time: 1 hour

Instructions

1. Combine the onion, garlic, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add the chicken and toss to coat well. Cover and set aside for 1 hour.
2. To make the chilli catsup glaze, place the ingredients and 1 tablespoon of water in a large bowl and stir well to combine.
3. Heat 1 cm (½ in) of vegetable oil in a large deep frying pan over medium heat. Place the flour and cornflour in a large bowl, season with salt and pepper and stir to combine. Working in three batches, remove the chicken from the bowl, leaving the onion mixture attached, and coat well in the flour mixture, making sure it gets into all the creases and crevices – the more the better as these will form the crispy crunchy bits. Cook the chicken for 2–3 minutes each side, until golden and crispy (or 3–4 minutes each side for drumsticks and 1–2 minutes each side for wings). Drain on paper towel, then repeat with the remaining chicken.
4. While the chicken is still hot, add to the glaze and toss to coat well. Transfer to a serving platter and squeeze over some of the kalamansi halves or lime wedges. Scatter over the chilli and serve with the remaining kalamansi or lime on the side for squeezing over.

 

Recipe and image from Under Coconut Skies by Yasmin Newman, Smith Street Books, RRP $55.00.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.