Sweet & sour chicken recipe.

I very rarely deep fry my food. Not because we don’t like fried food but cause I hate dealing with the leftover surplus of oil. I guess I could pour the surplus into an oil pot but you know what, I haven’t gotten around to buy one that looks nice and fits into the interior of the kitchen. Yes, this is one of my shortcomings as a human being.

We’re definitely going to get a electronic deep fryer but before that, we’d need to get a washing/dryer machine, a stand mixer, a new 4-6 slice toaster, a new kettle, a new rice cooker that’s not white in colour…all in that order :P

# – Sweet & sour chicken recipe.

Anyway, I made an exception for this sweet & sour chicken because (1) it’s time to redeem myself for sweet & sour chicken disaster circa 2006 and (2) it’s DELICIOUS!

For the marinade:

  • 2 pieces of chicken breasts, cut into desirable bite size
  • 1 tablespoon of bicarbonate soda
  • 4 tablespoons of corn flour
  • 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
  • 2 tablespoon of chinese rice wine (optional)
  • A pinch of salt and pepper

For the sweet & sour sauce:

  • 300 ml of water
  • 2 tablespoons of tamarind paste
  • 3 tablespoons of tomato puree or tomato ketchup
  • 1 tablespoon of sugar
  • A pinch of salt

For the mix of vegetables:

  • 2 medium onions, quartered
  • 150 grams of pineapple, cut into cubes
  • 1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded and cut into cubes
  • 1 large red chilli, seeded and cut into large rectangles (you can use capsicum)
  • A sliver of ginger

# – First, marinate the chicken in the marinade ingredients for about 30 minutes.

# – Then, prepare the sweet & sour sauce by stirring the sauce ingredients together till combined. Set aside.

# – Heat up enough oil to cover the chickens in a wok and throw the chicken in one by one. Don’t crowd the wok and work in batches.

# – Remove when golden brown and place on a paper towel to drain.

# – After all the frying, pour away the oil to leave just about 2 tablespoons in the wok. Throw in the mix of vegetables.

# – Followed by the sweet & sour sauce prepared earlier. Allow it to simmer gently.

# – Taste and season with salt if needed.

# – When sauce has achieved the desired consistency, throw in the deep fried chicken nuggets. Stir to coat chicken with the sauce. Remove from heat to serve.

# – Sweet & sour chicken, DONE!

# – Serve with piping hot rice. Yums :)

The chicken was tender on the inside and crispy on the outside. The sauce had just the right balance of flavours while the vegetables were nice & crunchy. Absolutely divine with rice.

I believe you can substitute chicken with other meats like pork or fish as well. Have fun cooking!