Green peppercorn chicken with crispy basil

By Adam Liaw
Serves  4
Print recipe

Ingredients

  • 600 g Lilydale Free Range Chicken Thigh Fillets, cut into 5cm pieces
  • ½ cup cornstarch
  • 1 egg white
  • 1 tsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • ¼ tsp ground white pepper
  • approx. 2 cups vegetable oil, for deep-frying
  • 1 cup basil leaves, picked
  • 600 g chicken thigh fillets, cut into 5cm pieces
  • ½ cup cornstarch
  • 1 egg white
  • 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
  • 1 small onion, sliced
  • 50 g green peppercorns in brine, drained

Sauce

  • 2 tsp sesame oil
  • 2 tbsp oyster sauce
  • 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp dark soy sauce
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp rice vinegar
  • 1 tsp grated ginger

Method

  1. Combine the chicken, cornstarch and egg white in a large bowl with the soy sauce, sesame oil and white pepper and mix well. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
  2. Heat the oil in a wok or saucepan to 165C and fry the basil leaves (watch out, they may spit – I add them to the saucepan and quickly cover it with a lid for about 30 seconds until the spitting settles down) for about 1 minute until the basil is crisp, then remove from the oil. Increase the heat of the oil to 180C and fry the chicken in batches for about 4 minutes per batch or until just cooked through.
  3. Heat a wok over high heat and add 1 tbsp of the frying oil. Fry the garlic, onion and green peppercorns for about 1 minute, then add the sauce ingredients and ½ cup of stock or water and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 3 minutes, then add the chicken and toss to coat for a further minute until the sauce is thickened and coating the chicken. Remove the chicken to a serving plate and scatter the basil leaves around to serve.

Kitchen creativity

Take a look at the recipes we’re currently loving or browse through our catalogue of all-time favourites.

View Recipes