Green Peppercorn Chicken with Crispy Basil

Name: Green Peppercorn Chicken with Crispy Basil
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Cusine

20 mins Prep

15 mins Cook

4 Serves

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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

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

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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.
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.
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.