Back in October Sue created a Sweet & Soup sauce as we had some Pineapple juice I bought by mistake. We’re working our way through a Turkey thigh and drummer at the moment as they are often on offer just after the festive season. So we thought we’d revisit the recipe – With a few additions and improvements. Lacto Fermented Ginger worked really well, but fresh would be similar.

Ingredients for the battered Turkey:-

300g of cubed Turkey thigh
250g Self raising Flour (Gluten free in our case)
Chinese Five Spice
Turmeric
Onion Salt
Garlic Salt
Soy Sauce (Gluten free here)
Sparling Water

Method:-

(1) Marinade the Turkey cubes in Soy Sauce and Five Spice in the fridge for an hour.
(2) Mix the dry ingredients and dredge the Turkey cubes.
(3) Add sufficient Sprinkling Water to make a thick batter.
(4) Coat the Turkey in batter individually.
(5) Heat the fryer to 170c.
(6) Fry in small batches until they float and are golden brown. If you have a probe you are looking for 76c in the middle, but not much more.
(7) Drain on kitchen paper.

Ingredients for the Sweet & Sour Sauce:-

1 Onion, finely chopped
1 Red Pepper, chopped
2 Cloves of Garlic, minced
1 Thumb size piece of fresh or fermented Ginger, minced
Tomato Ketchup
Cider Vinegar
Pineapple Juice
4 Spring Onions, sliced
Chilli Flakes
Cayenne Pepper
Soy Sauce
Salt & Pepper
Oil

Method:-

(1) In a large pan or Wok fry the Onions and then add the Garlic & Ginger with the dry seasonings.
(2) Add The Red Pepper.
(3) Add the Soy Sauce, Tomato Ketchup and Vinegar.
(4) Simmer and add the Pineapple juice.
(5) Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes to reduce.
(6) Add the Spring Onions are stir in.

We served ours on a bed of Rice noodles dressed with fresh Parsley and a sprinkle of additional Spring Onion. This really had all the hallmarks of a good Chinese restaurant Sweet & Sour, without the cost and Gluten. If anything it was more authentic than the real thing! Which sounds daft, but Sweet & Soup isn’t actually an authentic Chinese dish…..