Yueh Tung Restaurant Recipe: Manchurian Chicken

Text and Photographs Courtesy of Yueh Tung Restaurant
Video by MJ (@mjeatstoronto) and Warren (@followe.da.eatah)

Yueh Tung Restaurant is Toronto's oldest existing Hakka Restaurant. And it is changing hands within the family, from one generation to the next. The young daughters Jeanette and Joanna are taking the reins of this eatery. They have also created their line of famous chili chicken sauces! Join us as the sisters have graciously shared one of their famous recipes -- Manchurian Chicken -- with us today.

*Please note that in this video Yueh Tung uses their own mixed Sambals and specially formulated soy sauces. The homemade recipe in the video is not the same as the version offered at the restaurant! We hope you have the opportunity to support local businesses and taste Yueh Tung creations!

For more, visit www.yuehtungrestaurant.com.

Yueh Tung’s Famous (and Secret) Manchurian Chicken Recipe

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Yield: Makes 4 to 5 servings.

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Ingredients

• 2 skinless, boneless chicken thighs (about 500 grams)

• 2 cups cooking oil (preferably peanut)

• 1 cup potato starch

• ½ Spanish onion

• 3 or 4 green Thai chilis; reserve 2 for optional garnish

• 3 cloves of minced garlic

• 1 tablespoon ginger

• 1 jar of Vooka by Yueh Tung restaurant’s famous Hakka Manchurian sauce; or follow ingredients to make sauce

Ingredients for sauce

• 1 bunch of cilantro

• 2 tsp dark soy

• 1 tsp light soy

• 1 tsp cooking wine (preferably shaoxing)

• 1 tsp table salt

• 1 cup water

• Slurry: 1 tbsp water mixed with 1 tbsp potato starch

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Preparation

1. Cut the chicken into ½ inch sized cubes (uniformity is goal for best cooking!)

2. Coat chicken in potato starch. Fry chicken in oil until golden brown.

3. Remove chicken and strain oil from pan in mesh strainer or colander lined with cheesecloth; reserve oil for future use.

4. Using the same pan, add a tablespoon of oil. Stir-fry garlic, ginger onions, and Thai chilis.

5. Add chicken back into pan.

6. Make Manchurian sauce or use Vooka by Yueh Tung Restaurant’s premade Hakka Manchurian sauce! If making sauce deglaze mixture with cooking wine, and stir-fry until chicken is well coated with ingredients in pan. If using premade sauce, add jar to pan here and stir-fry until chicken is well coated.

7. Add cilantro, light soy sauce and dark soy sauce to pan. Continue to stir-fry.

8.Add one cup of water. When mixture comes to a light simmer, add in slurry of potato starch (make sure that the slurry is well mixed so that there aren’t any lumps). When pouring in the slurry, ensure that the bottom of wooden spoon is swirling at the bottom of the pan so that the slurry doesn’t coagulate. For extra heat, garnish with diced Thai chilis (optional).

Serve with rice and enjoy!

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About the chefs, Joanna and Jeanette Life can be hectic but we believe food always brings us closer. Our hope is that our restaurant does the same for you and your family. Inspired and proud of what our parents have done to preserve our Hakka culture, we made the decision to leave the careers our parents had hoped for us and instead keep mom and dad’s legacy going. We are so happy to join our parents and continue the art of multicultural storytelling in our city through the tasty lens of food.

Sponsored by Ferris Wheel Press.

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