Sweet & Sour Chicken

Back when I was working at A&O, a few co-workers & I went through a very hardcore Chinese take-out phase.  Mostly, we stuck to our favorites: sesame chicken, general tso's, something we called "fun noodles," and sweet & sour chicken.

We ate so much Chinese that I got tired of it.  There was a very long stretch of time when one of my work buddies Lizzy & I felt sick at the thought of one more "lunch special."

It took me awhile before Chinese sounded good again.  Now that Brian & I are married, I cook a lot at home and we don't get take-out very often...  I can't even tell you the last time I ordered Chinese!

But I do cook a fair amount of Asian food...  which is to say, I cook a fair amount of Americanized Asian food.  One of the things I've made several times is sweet & sour chicken.  It is not the most healthy dinner ever, but it has come out well every.single.time. so I thought I would share this easy recipe with all of you:

Ingredients for Chicken:
2-4 chicken breasts...  could also use thighs??
1 egg beaten
salt
pepper
couple tablespoons cornstarch
couple tablespoons vegetable oil

Ingredients for Sauce:
3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup pineapple juice
2 T soy sauce
1/2 T garlic powder

Preheat oven to 325

1.  Combine sauce ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Truth be told?  I pretty much eyeball the ingredients for the sauce; I don't find you need to be super precise with them*.  Wisk until it boils and let it bubble down for a couple minutes.

*And, by all means, taste your sauce!!!  As it cooks down more in the oven, it will get MORE sweet & sour-y, so you aren't looking for a strong sauce on the stove.  What you are looking for is a good balance between the sweet & sour.  If it tastes too sweet, add some more vinegar.  Too sour?  I would add more pineapple juice (though you could add more sugar... it just already has a lot of that...).

2.  Slice your chicken into small pieces; about 3/4-1 inch is what I like best.  And I blot the chicken with a paper towel; I don't know that it does anything, but I like to tell myself that it helps the egg stick.

3.  Season chicken with salt & pepper to taste...  I tend to like a lot of pepper.

4.  Coat the chicken pieces with egg

5.  Coat the pieces with cornstarch; I usually put the cornstarch in a gallon Ziplock bag, add the chicken & give it a toss.

6.  Let the chicken hang out on a plate for a couple minutes; it lets the cornstarch do it's thing.

7.  While the chicken is resting, heat the veggie oil over high heat

8.  Fry the chicken until it is pretty brown & golden on all sides.  It doesn't need to be completely cooked; it will have plenty of time in the oven to finish off.

9.  Place the chicken in a single layer in a baking dish (I spray mine with cooking spray to help clean-up), and then pour the sauce over.

10.  Bake for 30-45 minutes...  You want to make sure your chicken is fully cooked and give the sauce more time to thicken and get more delicious.

11.  Serve over rice & with some veggies!!  I served it this night with plain boring white rice, and a frozen bag of broccoli, carrots & edamame.  Usually I go for a fresh veggie, but nothing looked good at the store.  And truthfully, I like boring white rice, so that is usually what we pair with it ;-)

FYI- this also makes really good leftovers :-)

Happy cooking!!

Does any one else enjoy Asian flavors at home???