Sweet and sour schnitzel

Inspired by both Australian-Chinese restaurants and the classic Aussie pub, this is a hearty dinner full of flavour and crunch. You can even add a dim sim as a bonus!

• serves

  4

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Stream free On Demand

Regional Victoria, Ballarat

episode • Adam & Poh's Great Australian Bites • 

travel • 

25m

G

episode • Adam & Poh's Great Australian Bites • 

travel • 

25m

G

Ingredients

• 4 chicken breast fillets
• Salt, to season
• 150 g (1 cup) plain flour
• 220 g (2 cups) fine breadcrumbs
• 2 eggs
• 1 litre vegetable oil, for deep frying
• frozen shoestring fries, to serve
• butter lettuce leaves, to serve

Sweet and sour sauce

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• ½ tsp sesame oil
• 1 small carrot, peeled and julienned
• 2 thick spring onions, julienned
• ½ small red onion, thinly sliced
• ½ red capsicum, julienned
• ½ yellow capsicum, julienned
• 2 cm piece ginger julienned
• 60 ml (¼ cup) tomato sauce (ketchup)
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 2 tbsp white vinegar
• 3 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp chicken stock powder (Adam prefers Knorr brand)
• 1 tbsp cornflour mixed into 125 ml (½ cup) water

Instructions

1. Cut the chicken breasts in half horizontally, but leave a “hinge” connected on one side. Place each chicken breast between 2 pieces of baking paper, then use a meat mallet or rolling pin to pound to around 1 cm thick. Season the chicken well with salt.
2. Place the flour in a shallow bowl and season well with salt and pepper. Place the breadcrumbs in another shallow bowl, then beat the eggs and a splash of water in another bowl. Dip each chicken breast in the flour, then egg and breadcrumbs, pressing to coat well. Refrigerate until ready to cook.
3. To make the sweet and sour sauce, heat a wok over high heat and add the vegetable and sesame oil. Fry the carrot, spring onion, red onion, capsicum and ginger for about 2 minutes or until wilted, then add the tomato sauce, lemon juice, vinegar, sugar, chicken stock powder and about 250 ml (1 cup) of water to create a sauce. Simmer for 1 minute, then stir in as much of the cornflour mixture as needed to thicken the sauce. Set the sauce aside.
4. Heat the vegetable oil in a large saucepan or wok to 170 ˚C. Fry each schnitzel for about 5 minutes or until golden brown. Drain on a wire rack. Cook the fries for about 3 minutes or until golden, then drain.
5. Serve the schnitzel with fries and lettuce and the sweet and sour sauce poured over the top.

Take a trip around Australia with Adam & Poh's Great Australian Bites.

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.

Stream free On Demand

Regional Victoria, Ballarat

episode • Adam & Poh's Great Australian Bites • 

travel • 

25m

G

episode • Adam & Poh's Great Australian Bites • 

travel • 

25m

G