Recipe slightly adapted from:
[my changes in brackets and italicized]
Sweet and Sour Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 pound of boneless and skinless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into 1" chunks
- 1 egg white
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (1/4 teaspoon table salt)
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 10-ounce can pineapple chunks (reserve juice) [I used fresh pineapple and orange juice]
- 1/4 cup juice from the canned pineapple
- 1/4 cup white vinegar [I used rice vinegar]
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (1/4 teaspoon table salt)
- 2-3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon cooking oil
- 1 red bell pepper, cut into 1 inch chunks
- 1 yellow bell pepper, cut into 1 inch chunks
- [I added about 1 1/2 cups of fresh snow peas toward the end, they don't need to cook long]
- [also added about 1/2 cup chopped green onions in with the bell peppers]
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger [I used 2 tablespoons]
- [I served my sweet and sour over steamed white jasmine rice]
Method
1 In a bowl, combine the chicken with the egg white, salt and cornstarch. Stir to coat the chicken evenly. Let sit for 15 minutes at room temperature or up to overnight in the refrigerator.2 In the meantime, whisk together the pineapple juice, vinegar, ketchup, salt, and brown sugar [and about a 1/4 cup of soy sauce].
3 Heat a large frying pan or wok over high heat until a bead of water instantly sizzles and evaporates. Pour in the 1 tablespoon of cooking oil and swirl to coat. It's important that the pan is very hot. Add the chicken and spread the chicken out in one layer. Let the chicken fry, untouched for 1 minute, until the bottoms are browned. Flip and fry the other side the same for 1 minute. The chicken should still be pinkish in the middle. Dish out the chicken onto a clean plate, leaving as much oil in the pan as possible.
4 Turn the heat to medium and add the remaining 1 teaspoon of cooking oil. Let the oil heat up and then add the bell pepper chunks and ginger. Fry for 1 minute. Add the pineapple chunks [and snow peas] and the sweet and sour sauce. Turn the heat to high and when the sauce is simmering, add the chicken pieces back in. Let simmer for 1-2 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Timing depends on how thick you've cut your chicken. The best way to tell if the chicken is done is to take a piece out and cut into it. If it's pink, add another minute to the cooking. [at this point I added some extra corn starch mixed with cold water (shake it in a jar!) to thicken the sauce a little more]
Taste the sauce and add more brown sugar if you’d like.
Serves 4.
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