Crispy Sweet and Sour Chicken Airfryer Fried Chicken

Justine Schofield's bone-in chicken pieces marinated in buttermilk, dredged through gluten-free flour and a Chinese-five-spice blend, then airfried until the coating shatters. Served with a sharp sweet-and-sour sauce on the side. The home airfryer answer to the takeaway box.

The Chinese-American sweet-and-sour chicken is the takeaway-restaurant classic that has lived in every Australian Chinese cafe since the post-war years. The defining structural feature is the contrast between the deep-fried, golden, crisp chicken coating and the bright orange-red sweet-and-sour sauce poured over it at the table. The airfryer version delivers the same texture without the deep-fry oil.

The buttermilk-marinade technique is the Southern American fried-chicken move that has crossed into the broader Australian household chicken-cooking repertoire. The buttermilk's lactic acid tenderises the chicken, the dairy proteins bind the flour coating to the meat, and the slight tang of the buttermilk adds a savoury depth that plain milk or yoghurt can't quite match. Four hours minimum, overnight ideal.

The gluten-free flour and corn flour combination is the dredging move that gives the airfryer chicken its signature shatter-crisp coating. Plain wheat flour produces a thicker, softer coating; the gluten-free wheat substitute and the corn flour together produce a thinner, glassier crust that crackles when bitten. Chinese five-spice (star anise, cloves, cinnamon, sichuan pepper, fennel) ground into the flour gives the chicken its Cantonese-leaning warmth. Sweet-and-sour sauce of pineapple juice, brown sugar, soy and rice vinegar served alongside. Steamed jasmine rice on the side.