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???
