Sweet & Sour Chicken
Easy
Sweet & Sour Chicken Crispy coated chicken pieces tossed in an easy sweet and sour sauce with onions and peppers. This is a classic takeaway dish and it’s easier to make than you may think! We’ve used chicken thighs in this recipe as we find the meat is more forgiving to being overcooked and doesn’t become dry, but you are welcome to use chicken breast if you prefer.
Sweet & Sour Chicken
Easy
Introduction
Sweet & Sour Chicken Crispy coated chicken pieces tossed in an easy sweet and sour sauce with onions and peppers. This is a classic takeaway dish and it’s easier to make than you may think! We’ve used chicken thighs in this recipe as we find the meat is more forgiving to being overcooked and
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Ingredients
- 4 large skinless & boneless chicken thighs (or 3 large chicken breasts)
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp salt flakes
- ¼ tsp white pepper
- 250ml pineapple juice
- 3 tbsp ketchup
- 3 tbsp rice wine or apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp soft light brown sugar
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- 1 tbsp water
- Sunflower oil, for frying
- 75g cornflour
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 75g plain flour
- Salt & white pepper
- 1 onion, peeled & cut into 3cm chunks
- 1 red pepper, cored & cut into 3cm chunks
- 1 green pepper, cored & cut into 3cm chunks
- 2 slices pineapple, core removed, skin trimmed & cut into wedges
- Rice, to serve
FOR THE CHICKEN:
FOR THE SAUCE:
REMAINING INGREDIENTS:
Method
- 1. For the chicken, cut chicken into 4cm chunks and transfer to a medium sized bowl. Sprinkle over seasoning and toss well. Cover and refrigerate while you make the sweet and sour sauce.
- 2. To make the sweet and sour sauce, combine all ingredients except the cornflour and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring occasionally. Once bubbling, decrease heat to medium low.
- 3. Mix together cornflour and water in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry, then slowly pour into the sauce while stirring sauce with a whisk.
- 4. Simmer, while stirring, until sauce had thickened. Tip: Sweet and sour sauce does not naturally have a red tint to it, but if you want it to look a little more like your favourite takeaway, you can stir in 1-2 drops red food colouring or beetroot juice.
- 5. Taste for seasoning, add more vinegar if you prefer it more sour, or a little more sugar if you prefer it sweeter. Keep warm over very low heat until needed.
- 6. To cook the chicken, depending on the size of the large pot you’re using to fry the chicken, pour in ½ to 1 litre sunflower oil into the pot and set over medium high heat. (You want the chicken pieces to be completely submerged while cooking.)
- 7. While oil is heating, spread cornflour onto a large plate, set aside. Have the beaten eggs in a shallow bowl. Season the flour with salt and pepper then spread onto another large plate.
- 8. Working in batches, toss chicken pieces in cornflour then transfer to the beaten egg and toss to coat. Finally, transfer egg-dipped chicken to the flour and toss well to coat. Set coated chicken aside in a single layer on a large plate or tray, then proceed with the next batch of chicken.
- 9. Once all the chicken has been coated the oil should be hot enough to fry in. The surface will swirl slightly and if you hold a wooden chopstick or bamboo skewer in the oil, it should bubble on the stick. If the bubbles are extremely frantic, lower the heat to medium, and to help speed things up, you can add a bit of cold oil to help reduce the temperature.
- 10. Using tongs or chopsticks, lower a few pieces of chicken into the hot oil, the amount depends on the size of your pot, but imagine they’re in a single layer with a bit of room between them. Cook until golden, about 3-4 minutes, you can flip the piece over while cooking, then remove cooked chicken with a slotted spoon or similar and transfer to a tray. Cook the remaining chicken in batches. Tip: Once all the chicken has cooked, leave the pot with the oil to cool completely, then line a funnel with a coffee filter and sit it over a bowl or jug. In batches, pour the oil in into the lined funnel to filter the oil so it can be used again.
- 11. In a wok or large high sided pan, drizzle with a bit of oil and heat over medium. Once hot, add the onion, peppers and pineapple and cook until just tender. Tip: If your pineapple is quite ripe, soft and juicy, start cooking the onion and peppers first, then add the pineapple after a few minutes.
- 12. Add the sweet and sour sauce to the pan and toss well, cooking for 1-2 minutes so it comes up to temperature.Finally, add the cooked chicken and toss well to coat.
- 13. Serve hot with a side of rice.
