John Torodes Japanese Crispy Chicken With Chilli Dipping Sauce Recipes

JOHN TORODE'S JAPANESE CRISPY CHICKEN WITH CHILLI DIPPING SAUCE

Steps:

• Peel and grate the ginger and squeeze out the juice into a bowl. Mix the sake, soy and most of the spring onion with the juice, add the chicken and turn over, then marinate for 1-2 hours.
• For the sweet chilli sauce put all the ingredients in a pan with 100ml water over a high heat, and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes until it turns pinkish. Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly, then put in a food processor and blend to a sauce.
• Fill a wok or saucepan ⅓ full with the oil and heat over a medium heat until a cube of bread browns in 30 seconds. Drain the chicken from the marinade, toss in flour, shake off excess then fry the pieces in the oil in batches. Cook for about 3 minutes each side until crisp and golden. Drain briefly on kitchen towel to get rid of any excess fat and serve sprinkled with the remaining spring onion and chilli on a warm plate with the sweet chilli sauce for dipping.

JOHN'S CHILLI CON CARNE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/ gas 3. Heat a large cast-iron pot or saucepan over a high flame, pour in the oil, then drop in the onions, chillies, paprika and thyme. Cook for 5 mins until the onions soften. Add the celery, give it a stir and crumble in the stock cube. Stir again and cook for another 5 mins
• Add the beef, stir well, then colour for a few mins to coat the meat with the spices. Add the flour and coat everything with a more few stirs, then add the remaining ingredients, along with 1 tsp salt.
• Let it come to the boil, then put a lid on, place in the oven, reduce the temperature to 140C/120C fan/ gas 1 and cook for 4 1 /2 hrs.
• Take the pot out of the oven and remove the carrots, chop them into small chunks, then put them back in. I like plenty of sauce, but you may want to remove some if you don't want it too saucy - be sure to keep it, it's great on toast when cold. Remember to remove the chillies before you serve. Finally, scatter with coriander, if you like