Hubby and I are big fans of Asian dishes.
He has been raving about my dad's Sweet & Sour Chicken ever since he had that very first taste 2 years ago. It became his favorite dish ever. I could never get dad's recipe right whatever I do and trust me, I tried many times with instructions from him and failed so eventually I went to Pinterest for a little help. My dad cooks from the heart and he's not one to follow recipes and measurements like I do. I finally got around to making it for the hubby after much begging for a week. Soooo glad that I did because this turned out to be one of the best versions of Sweet and Sour Chicken I've ever come across, all thanks to this genius blogger, Mel.
It does take time (you bake it for 1 hour!!!) and effort to make but believe me, it's totally worth it.
And don't get me started on THAT SAUCE. Good gracious, THAT SAUCE will make you lick your plate and fork CLEAN. It's SO SO good.
Gorgeous chunks of chicken coated
in the most deliciously messy, sticky. sweet, tangy sauce
Here's the link to the ORIGINAL RECIPE with the following changes I made below:
2-3 servings
For the sauce:
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar (for extra tang)
5 tbsp of ketchup
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 large clove of garlic, grated
salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp of cornstarch (used flour since it was what I had on hand)
Stir all ingredients together for the sauce for the chicken. I also made extra sauce for the mixed vegetables (1/4 the original amount). I wanted the vegetables with a bit of crunch so I didn't bake them together with the chicken but stir fried them separately with the extra sauce.
For the mixed vegetables:
half of 1 medium onion, cut into chunks
half of each red, green and yellow bell peppers, cut into chunks
1 - 1 1/2 cup of pineapple chunks, drained
Heat a tablespoon of oil in a pan over medium heat. Stir fry the vegetables for about 2 minutes. Then add the pineapple. Add the extra sweet sour sauce and cook for another minute or two until the sauce thickens. Then serve the baked chicken with the vegetables and rice.
For the battered chicken:
I had 1 large fillet and a half, roughly about 300-350 grams I think, cut into chunks. Season with salt and pepper. Instead of the cornstarch, I used flour since that was what I had on hand (Can someone/anyone please tell me where I can buy cornstarch in the Netherlands?! My husband stares at me blankly when I say cornstarch or cornflour). I also seasoned the flour with salt and pepper. Coat the chicken first in the flour, then dip it in the egg, then back in the flour. I gave them a quick fry just to get a crisp outer layer before putting them in the dish and pouring the sauce over the nuggets to bake. Halfway through the baking time, I gave them a quick stir, turning the nuggets over to coat them in that beautiful sauce.
FYI: The hubby still thinks that nothing beats my dad's Sweet & Sour Chicken. He told me this after he shamelessly finished 3/4 of the whole dish. He said he was "starving"! And he licked his plate clean. For real.