Lemonade – salabat chicken

If the name of the recipe sounds strange, that’s because this is a rather strange, and wickedly flavorful, dish. My 11-year-old wanted chicken with sweet and sour sauce for lunch but we did not have the vegetables to go with the dish. Besides, I wasn’t so sure if chunks of chicken would be good for a stir-fried dish. Braising (cooking with very little liquid) the chicken was a better idea. The challenge was to come up with a sauce with a sweet-tangy flavor that would be good for braising the chicken. My first thought was to use kalamansi (native citrus) juice and minced ginger but we did not have enough kalamansi in the fridge. No ginger either. Then I saw the jar of powdered lemonade that someone forgot to put back in its proper place in the beverage cart. I checked if we had powdered salabat and we did. For an oriental twist, I decided I would add some chili-garlic sauce and hoisin sauce.

Note that I used what I had in the kitchen. There’s no earthly reason why you can’t use fresh lemon juice and ginger with some honey or brown sugar instead of powdered lemonade and salabat. In fact, adding some grated lemon zest to the chicken while it cooks sounds like a really good idea. It is the combination of citrus and ginger that gives the dish its piquant flavor and aroma.

Chili-garlic sauce and hoisin sauce are available in the oriental section of most supermarkets.

Ingredients :

thighs, legs and wings of two 1-kg. chickens
1 head of garlic
1 large white onion
2 tsps. of salt (herbed salt is great)
3 tsps. of chili garlic sauce
2 tsps. of hoisin sauce
3 tbsps. of powdered lemonade
2 tbsps. of powdered salabat
2 tsps. of tapioca or corn starch
2 c. of cooking oil
chopped greens (parsley or onion leaves) for garnish

Cooking procedure :

Cut the chicken into serving size pieces.

Peel and finely mince the garlic. Peel and finely slice the onion.

Heat a fryer. Pour in the cooking oil and heat until it starts to smoke. Fry the chicken pieces over high heat just until lightly browned. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to a bowl.

Pour off the cooking oil until only about two tablespoonfuls remain. Reheat the oil. Saute the garlic and onion until fragrant. Return the chicken pieces to the fryer. Add the chili-garlic sauce, hoisin sauce, salt, powdered lemonade and powdered salabat. Add about two cups of water. Stir to blend. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, cover and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes.

Disperse the starch in 1/4 c. of water. When the chicken is done, turn up the heat. Pour in the starch solution, stirring as you pour. Cook until the sauce thickens. Turn off the heat and add the chopped greens. Toss a few times before serving.