What's for dinner? Sweet and Sour Chicken

I have no idea where this recipe originally came from or what the original recipe looked like, but several years ago, I was looking for a recipe for sweet and sour chicken that was at least similar to the one found in our local Chinese restaurant.  Of course, when I pictured sweet and sour sauce, I immediately imagined the bright red...unnaturally red... sauce found in a large warming pan at the end of a bar at a Chinese buffet.  Actually, I did not even eat sweet and sour chicken (even on the buffets) until first having it at Hunan Restaurant in Jefferson City, Missouri. Yum!

July 2019
Hunan in Jefferson City, Missouri
Notice the bright red sauce

In my quest to mimic this delightful sweetness, I discovered that the red in the sauce was the result of oodles of red food coloring.  

After searching and experimenting, I found a tasty sauce that --as you will see in the photos to follow-- is not red at all. However, I assure you it is sweet and has the perfect amount of tangy sourness! For the chicken, I found a Long John Silvers copycat chicken batter recipe, adjusted it to better fit the fried chicken chunks for sweet and sour chicken, and voilà...Sweet and Sour Chicken!  

Important note:  Don't forget to begin cooking your rice when you start preparing your meal.  When I made this meal today, the chicken was fried and the sauce perfected.  I called my husband to tell him it was ready. He sauntered into the kitchen and asked, "Do we get rice with this meal?"  Whomp, whomp, whomp...I had totally forgotten the rice.

Hope you enjoy!

Let's begin:

Prepare the batter by mixing together all of the dry ingredients. 

Add in the egg and water.  

Mix until well blended. 

Look at those nice bubbles.  

This will help the chicken have the fluffy, textured batter.

Add in the chicken. 

Heat oil to 375-400°.  Drop in the chicken pieces and fry until golden brown.  Do not put too many pieces of chicken in the oil at a time. You want the chicken to have space to fry all around.  Fry until a deep golden brown, approximately 5-6 minutes.  Remove from oil and place on a towel to drain.  At this point, taste a piece of the chicken to make sure it is as tasty as it looks.  

Continue the process until all the chicken is fried.  While frying, make sure you take the time to dip a piece of the fried chicken into the sauce that you have prepared along the way. Be prepared to slap away the hands of those wandering through the kitchen attempting to taste the crunchy goodness!

While the chicken is frying, begin making the sauce.  


Prepare the bell pepper by cutting cored and seeded pepper into 1-inch chunks.  I usually use only red peppers, but I had some yellow on-hand and decided to try something new. You can also chop up onions in large chunks if you want to add them as well.  The onions are optional but a nice addition.

Place the sugar, water, vinegar, oil (1 tsp.), soy sauce, salt, and garlic in a pan and bring it to a boil, stirring occasionally.  Make a slurry of cornstarch and water. Stir it into the boiling sugar mixture.  Make sure you constantly stir the sauce at this point.  It will thicken quickly and you don't want it to clump or burn.  

Continue cooking and stirring constantly until the mixture is thickened.   As the mixture thickens, it will take on a more glassy appearance. 

After about 10-15 seconds, the sauce will be gelled.  It is now time to add in the vegetables and an 8 ounce of pineapple chunks, juice and all.  Stir it all together and turn off the heat.

Set the sauce aside until the chicken is finished.  Did you try your chicken?  Go ahead and dip a couple of pieces.  Cooks privilege.

When all the chicken is fried, it is time to call the troops and dish it up.  Place a big scoop of rice on a plate, grab a handful of chicken pieces and plop 'em on top of the rice, and ladle a healthy serving of sauce right on top.  Delish!

I had some homegrown zucchini that I fried up with the leftover batter.

This is a delectable recipe for sweet and sour chicken, and it is fairly quick to make.  It takes about 40-45 minutes from start to finish (once you know what you are doing).  Here is the recipe without pictures:

Sweet and Sour Chicken 

Chicken Pieces

Ingredients:

 ¾ c. flour

¼ c. cornstarch

½ tsp. seasoning salt

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. baking powder

1 egg

¾ c. water

Directions:

Mix ingredients together until smooth.  Dip chicken pieces and deep fry at 350-400º until golden brown. 

Sweet and Sour Sauce 

Ingredients:

 ½ c. sugar

½ c. chicken broth or water

⅓ c. white vinegar

1 tsp. vegetable oil

1 tsp. soy sauce

¼ tsp. salt

1 spoonful minced garlic

2 Tbsp. cornstarch

1 Tbsp. cold water

1 small red bell pepper cut into 1-inch pieces

8 oz. can of pineapple chunks

Directions:

Heat together sugar, broth, vinegar, oil, soy sauce, salt and garlic to boiling over medium-high heat.  Stir occasionally.  Mix cornstarch and water.  Stir into sugar mixture.  Cook and stir about 10 seconds or until thickened.  Stir in bell pepper and pineapple.  Serve with chicken and rice. 

Hints:  If the sauce becomes too thick, add some additional water to reach the desired consistency.

I have found that jasmine rice The Instant Pot Jasmine rice recipe found here is an easy way to make perfect rice.  

If you need the "red" to make it feel authentic American Chinese buffet worthy, go ahead and add in some red food coloring to meet your satisfaction. 😉