Sweet and sour chicken

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 egg white
• ½ tsp sesame oil
• 2 tsp cornflour (cornstarch)
• Pinch each of Himalayan salt and ground black pepper
• 400g/14 oz fresh pineapple, chopped
• 2 tbsp Lucy Bee coconut oil
• 1 red pepper (bell pepper), deseeded and diced
• 1 tbsp freshly grated ginger
• 4 spring onions (scallions), sliced
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
• 3 star anise
• 1 tbsp tamarind
• 50ml/scant 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

Method

1. Dice the chicken, then in a bowl, mix the diced chicken with the egg white, sesame oil, cornflour (cornstarch), salt and pepper. Cover and chill in the fridge for about 20 minutes. Blitz or finely chop half of the pineapple chunks, leaving the remaining half intact, and set aside.

2. Heat 1 tbsp of the coconut oil in a deep non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and, when hot, add the (bell) pepper and stir-fry for 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and place in a dish.

3. Add the remaining coconut oil to the frying pan and, when hot, add the ginger, spring onions (scallions), garlic, chilli, star anise and chicken and stir-fry for 5 minutes, before adding the tamarind, rice wine vinegar and 2 tbsp water, with the cooked red pepper, pineapple chunks and blitzed or chopped pineapple. Gently simmer for 10 minutes, until the sauce becomes nice and thick. Turn up the heat and cook until the chicken is cooked through, stirring occasionally. Serve with Prawn Toast (see below), if you like.

From Coconut Oil: Recipes for Real Life. Recipe text © 2016 Lucy Bee Limited.