Food and Cooking

Chicken chilli beer batter strips: RECIPE

Who needs chicken nuggets when you can have strips of chicken in a crisp beer batter? Serve with salad as a light meal.

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts, cut into equally-sized strips
½ lemon, juice only
chilli powder, to taste
salt
vegetable oil, for deep frying
50g/1¾oz plain white flour
For the beer batter
280g/10oz plain white flour
pinch bicarbonate of soda
10fl oz/½ pint beer, chilled
200ml/7fl oz sparkling water, chilled
1 egg white

Chicken chilli
Method
Put the chicken in a bowl and add the lemon juice, chilli powder and a pinch of salt. Mix, cover with cling film and transfer to the fridge to marinate for 20 minutes.

Preheat a deep-fat fryer to 180C/350F. (CAUTION: Hot oil can be dangerous. Do not leave unattended).

For the beer batter, mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Stir in the cold beer and enough sparkling water to make a smooth batter (you may not need all the water). Leave to stand for 10 minutes.

Whisk the egg white in a clean, dry glass bowl, until soft peaks form when the whisk is removed. Gently fold the egg white into the batter.

For the chicken, put the flour on a plate. Toss the chicken in the flour until coated, shake off any excess and dip in the batter.

Deep-fry the chicken for 6-8 minutes, or until crisp, golden-brown and cooked through with no sign of pink in the juices when you cut the thickest strip in half. Remove using a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Season with salt and serve.

Source: BBC FOODS