Sweet and Sour Chicken
Serves: 3 to 4
A delicious homemade Sweet and Sour Chicken with crispy fried chicken and a sauce packed with fresh vegetables. No need for Chinese takeaway anymore!
Ingredients
For the Chicken Marinade
- 700 g (1 ½ lb) chicken breast fillets and/or chicken thigh fillets, with or without skin
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper, freshly cracked
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon mirin, or Chinese shaoxing wine
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped or finely grated
- 2 teaspoons ginger, grated
- 1 egg white
For the Fried Chicken
- 300 g (2 cups) plain flour, (all-purpose flour)
- vegetable oil, for shallow frying
For the Sweet and Sour Sauce
- 1 brown onion, cut into large cubes
- 1 large carrot, peeled and sliced thickly on the diagonal
- 125 ml (½ cup) white wine vinegar, or apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 4 tablespoons sugar
- 4 tablespoons tomato sauce, (ketchup)
- 500 ml (2 cups) chicken stock, or vegetable stock
- 1 red capsicum, (bell pepper) cut into large cubes
- 1 green capsicum, (bell pepper) cut into large cubes
- 230 g (8 oz) pineapple, fresh or canned, cut into large chunks
- 2-3 tablespoons cornflour, (US: cornstarch) mixed with some water
To Serve
- coriander, (cilantro) finely chopped
- Steamed Jasmine Rice
Instructions
For the Chicken Marinade
- Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces, about 2 cm (1 inch) cubes.
- Place the chicken into a medium-sized bowl.
- Add the marinade ingredients.
- Mix everything together until the chicken is well-combined in the marinade.
- Set aside to marinate for at least 30 minutes.
For the Fried Chicken
- Heat a large saucepan with enough vegetable oil to about 2 cm (1 inch) depth.
- Place the flour into a large bowl or baking tray.
- Pour the chicken, together with all of the marinade, onto the flour.
- Use your hands to coat the chicken in the flour. The liquid in the marinade will mix with the flour to form a light batter.
- Press the flour into the chicken to help form a craggy coating on the chicken. It is this craggy coating which will make the chicken crispy and crunchy.
- The oil is ready when it reaches 165°C or 325°F, or when a wooden chopstick inserted in the oil creates lots of small bubbles.
- Cook the chicken in batches until golden in colour.
- Drain the chicken pieces on kitchen paper or on a wire rack
For the Sweet and Sour Sauce
- Heat the oil in a saucepan over a medium-high heat.
- Cook the onion and carrots with a pinch of salt for about 5 minutes, or until the carrots start to soften.
- Add the vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, ketchup, and stock.
- Simmer gently for about 5 minutes.
- Add the capsicums (bell peppers) and pineapple, or other vegetables of your choice.
- Simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the vegetables have softened slightly. I like to have the vegetables still somewhat crisp.
- Taste for seasoning. You might want to add more sugar to sweeten the sauce, or perhaps more vinegar to make it more sour.
- Make the cornflour slurry by mixing together the cornflour and water in a small jug.
- While the Sweet and Sour Sauce is simmering, add some of the slurry, quickly stirring it into the sauce to prevent any lumps. Keep adding more slurry until you have a nice and thick consistency. You may not need all of the slurry.
To Serve
- Garnish the Sweet and Sour Sauce with chopped coriander (cilantro).
- I like to serve the Fried Chicken separately from the Sweet and Sour Sauce to retain the crunchiness of the chicken.
- Serve each person with Steamed Jasmine Rice, a good handful of Fried Chicken with a generous serve of the Sweet and Sour Sauce over the rice and/or Fried Chicken, as they wish.
Kitchen Notes
- VEGETARIAN
For a vegetarian version, simply omit the chicken and use vegetable stock. This dish is also delicious with thick slices of firm tofu stirred through the sauce. - VARIATIONS
Crunchy vegetables work best in this recipe, but you can use whatever you like. Some suggestions include:
* bean sprouts
* broccoli
* celery
* cauliflower
* courgettes (zucchini)
* cucumber
* green beans
* tomatoes - OVEN & STOVE TEMPERATURES
All recipes on this website have been tested on an induction stove and/or with a conventional oven (i.e. an oven without fan). All recipes on this website use temperatures for a conventional oven, unless otherwise mentioned. Convection ovens (i.e. fan-forced ovens) are typically 20°C/70°F hotter than conventional ovens, but please check your manufacturer’s handbook. - CONVERSIONS
To convert from cups to grams, and vice-versa, please see this handy Conversion Chart for Basic Ingredients.