Sweet and Sour Chicken
By
Fran Say
@ChefMom22
1
The trick to this dish is double-frying the chicken, which keeps it nice and crispy.
Ingredients
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1 lbboneless chicken, trimmed, cut into 1-inch cubes
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MARINADE:
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1 tspshaoxing cooking wine or dry sherry
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1 tspgranulated garlic
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1/2 tspsalt
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1 pinchchinese five-spice powder
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BATTER:
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1/2 cflour
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1/2 ccornstarch
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1/4 tspbaking powder
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1 cwater
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1 tspvegetable oil
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3-4 cvegetable oil, for deep frying
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FOR STIR-FRY:
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3 Tbspvegetable oil, for stir-frying
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1 mediumbell pepper, seeded, cut into bite-size chunks
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1/4 mediumyellow onion, cut into 1-inch squares
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1/4 mediumcarrot, peeled, thinly sliced
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1/2 cpineapple chunks
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2 Tbspcornstarch, dissolved in 1 tbsp water
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SWEET AND SOUR SAUCE:
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1 mediumorange
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1 mediumlemon
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1ginger, about 1-1/2-in. long, crushed
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1 cketchup
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1 csugar
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3/4 cdistilled white vinegar
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2 cwater
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1 pinchsalt
How to Make Sweet and Sour Chicken
- SWEET & SOUR SAUCE:
Wash orange and lemon. Squeeze juice from orange and lemon into a saucepan, adding in the rinds. Add ginger, then stir in ketchup, sugar, water, vinegar, an salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes. Set aside until ready to use. - CHICKEN & MARINADE:
Combine chicken and Marinade ingredients and let stand for at least 30 minutes. - BATTER:
Combine Batter ingredients and mix well. It should be the consistency of heavy cream. - DEEP FRYING:
In a deep fryer or deep frying pan, heat oil to 325°F. Pour just enough batter over chicken pieces to coat. Add the coated chicken pieces in batches and fry about 3 minutes or until light golden brown. Remove and drain. Repeat with remaining chicken pieces. - DOUBLE DEEP FRY:
Raise temperature of oil to 350-360°F. Return a batch of the chicken pieces to oil and fry until golden brown; remove and drain. Repeat with remaining chicken pieces. Remove hot oil from pan. - STIR-FRY:
Heat up frying pan or wok over medium-high heat for about 1 minute. Add 3 tbsp vegetable oil and then add 1-1/2 cups of prepared sweet and sour sauce, all vegetables, and pineapple chunks. Bring to a boil and let bubble for 30 seconds, then thicken with 2 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 1 tbsp water. - When sauce is thickened, add chicken pieces, toss to coat, and serve hot.
