Chinese Sweet and Sour Chicken Recipe

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I hope my Chinese friends will not be mad at me for sharing this recipe although I have never been to China yet. But this recipe comes out so good every time, I could not wait any longer. The best part is my son cooks this Chinese Sweet and Sour Chicken, I just do the dishes!

How to cut chicken into cubes?

Start with rinsing and pat drying the kitchen. Until recently it was not advised to wash the chicken, but it turned out that the reason for this advice was concerning cross-contamination. So unless you are splashing all around, do rinse the chicken and then pat dry with paper towels.

Then lay flat the chicken breasts and look out for the stripes. Once you spot them cut diagonally to make cubes of 3 centimetres (1 inch) pieces. Cut off excess fat.

How to coat the chicken?

Prepare a batter with egg yolks, baking powder, starch, flour, salt, black pepper, water and olive oil. Add in the chicken cubes. Mix well to coat chicken with the batter. If the batter becomes too thick add more water and/or olive oil.

Do not use egg whites as they tend to darken the chicken. Replace white peppers with black peppers if available.

How to deep fry the chicken?

• Use a large and tall pot. Fill it with enough oil to let the chicken float around. Use a thermometer to check the heat to reach 150°Celsius (300° F) before you add the chicken.
• Choose an oil that has a high burn tolerance. I generally go for sunflower oil or olive oil.
• Deep fry the chicken for about 2-3 minutes on all sides over medium-low heat.
• Do not overcrowd to make sure the chicken cubes do not stick to each other and the oil does not get cold.
• When the chicken starts floating on the top, remove the chicken from the oil on to a dish covered with paper towels. 
• Wait until the warmth of the oil reaches 150°Celsius (300° F) again, fry the chicken for the second time. This time 30 seconds will be enough. Again remove from the oil and place it on paper towels to get rid of excess oil.

How to prepare the vegetables?

Chop the pepper and the onions into similar sized cubes. Do not forget to cut off the white parts in the peppers as these are not tasty at all. Mince the ginger and the garlic cloves. Later on, do not overcook the veggies as a little crunchiness will be nice to have.

Once the sauces are added to the veggies and the chicken joins the skillet, all you need to do is give everything a good mix until the chicken cubes are well coated with all the juices.

Serve with flat noodles or rice. You will not be hungry for a while.

If you enjoyed this recipe check out my Spiced Filipino Adobo with Chicken recipe for next time.

Print Pin

Sweet and Sour Chicken Recipe

No more takeaways! You can prepare this in 30, cook in 30 minutes.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American, Chinese

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour

Servings 4 Servings

Calories 221kcal

Ingredients

Chicken and coating

• 4 chicken breasts no skin, no bone
• 1 ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 4 egg whites medium
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 4 tablespoons corn starch
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• sunflower oil for frying

Vegetables

• 1 onion large
• 1 red pepper
• 1 green pepper
• 3 garlic cloves
• 25 grams ginger

Sauce

• 1 pineapple canned 227 grams (drained 137 grams)
• 2 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 150 grams ketchup
• 1 pinch dry chilli flakes
• freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

• Start with cutting the vegetables. Take out the seeds and the white parts of the peppers and cut into cubes. Cube the onions into similar sizes. Mince the garlic and the fresh ginger.
• Cut the chicken breasts diagonally into 3 cm (1 inch) cubes. Use a sharp knife and make clean cuts.
• Prepare a batter with egg yolks, baking powder, starch, flour, salt, black pepper, water and olive oil. Add in the chicken cubes. Mix well to coat chicken with the batter. If the batter becomes too thick add more water and/or olive oil.
• Deep fry the chicken in sunflower oil heated to 150°Celsius (300° F) for about 2-3 minutes or until they start floating on the top.
• When the chicken starts floating on the top, remove from the oil on to a dish covered with paper towels.
• When the oil reaches 150°Celsius (300° F) again, fry the chicken for the second time. This time 30 seconds or until the chicken is golden brown. Again remove from the oil and place it on paper towels to get rid of excess oil.
• Meanwhile, start cooking the vegetables.
• Saute the veggies in a wok or large skillet until they change colour. Do not overcook, a little crunchiness will be nice to have.
• Add the soy sauce, ketchup, chopped pineapples, pineapple juice, white wine vinegar, dark brown sugar, dry chilli flakes and pepper to taste.
• Toss in the fried chicken and mix until the chicken is well coated with the juices.
• Taste and adjust spices if necessary.
• Serve immediately.

Notes

For frying use an oil with high heat tolerance. I used sunflower oil and often use olive oil.

Make sure not to overcrowd the frying pot. This might cause the chicken cubes to get stuck to each other. Plus the heat of the oil might decrease and this will cause the chicken batter to soak in more oil. 

 

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