Cantonese Sweet Sour Chicken Food

CANTONESE SWEET AND SOUR CHICKEN

Steps:

• Cut the chicken breasts into bite-size pieces, about half the length of your thumb.
• In a bowl, add all the marinade ingredients EXCEPT the beaten egg white. Keep this in a separate bowl for now. Add the meat to the marinade and leave for 20 minutes.
• Get a plate ready to put all your prepared vegetables on. These should be bite size pieces, so the peppers, I usually cut in half, remove the seeds and pith from inside, then cut into squares, about 2 cm wide/long.
• The onion, cut into quarters or eighths and separate each layer so they will cook evenly.
• The spring onions/scallions, chop into little 1/2 cm pieces and keep separate from the rest of your vegetables.
• The ginger, peel (I just scrape the skin off with a knife), and chop finely.
• Add all the ingredients EXCEPT the hot water into a measuring jug. Mix well so the cornflour has combined. Add the hot water to make up the liquid mixture to total 1 pint or 1 1/2 cups or 0.6 quart.
• Transfer the mixture to a saucepan and bring to a simmer. The sauce will thicken as the starch cooks, and you will notice a change in color to a deeper orange/red. Make sure you keep stirring to avoid any lumps.
• When thick enough (consistency of yogurt) turn off the heat.
• You need 2 shallow dishes and a flat plate or baking tray.
• Add the beaten egg white into the chicken meat marinade and mix well, making sure every piece of chicken is coated with the egg white. Use your fingers!
• Put the 2 beaten eggs and the 1 egg yolk leftover from the chicken marinade in a shallow dish and beat lightly.
• In another shallow dish weigh out the cornstarch /cornflour (500g / 4 cups)
• Heavily cover a baking tray or large dish with cornflour or flour. (this will be used to put the chicken pieces on, once they are coated.
• Now you need to set up a mini production line, egg dish, then flour dish, then the plate / baking tray.
• Coat the pieces of chicken in egg, then in the flour, pushing the flour all over, making sure it sticks to the meat. Repeat egg & flour coat one more time then place on the plate / baking tray, making sure not to overlap the chicken on the plate. Make sure your plate is well floured otherwise the meat will stick to the plate and all your coating will come off!
• Heat the oil. Test the temperature by putting a little bit of the flour in. If it sizzles to the top, it's hot enough.
• Place the pieces of chicken in the oil, turn after a few minutes or when light golden brown, and do the same on the other side. Remove onto kitchen paper when done. Take care not to overlap the chicken pieces in the tray. You may have to cook the chicken in batches if you are using a small pan.
• Heat up the sauce from earlier until starting to bubble, stir to avoid lumps.
• Add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil to your wok and heat at a high temperature. Add ginger and mix it into the oil.
• Add all the other ingredients from your prepared vegetable plate EXCEPT the scallions/spring onions (they will go slimy & soft if you cook them now). Stir fry all ingredients until semi soft. You can test a pepper yourself to see if it is to your preference.
• Add the chicken pieces and stir/mix them into the vegetables. Make sure your wok is on the highest heat possible. Take care not to damage the coating when you are mixing it all together.
• I find it easiest to use chopsticks in one hand and a wide spatula in the other to turn and toss the food in a wok, however, 2 spatulas will work too if you aren't confident with the chopsticks!
• Add the heated sauce into the stir fry and mix well so that all the chicken, vegetables are coated with the sauce.
• Transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle the scallions/spring onions over your creation.
• Serve with a lovely bowl of hot Fragrant Jasmine Rice and give yourself ONE HUGE PAT ON THE BACK for making one of the most popular Cantonese dishes in the world!

HOW TO MAKE AUTHENTIC CHINESE SWEET AND SOUR CHICKEN

Steps:

• Place soy sauce in a bowl and marinade the chicken cut into cubes for a few minutes. When you see it is soft it will be time to prepare the batter.
• Prepare the mix to batter the chicken. You will need flour, pepper, salt and beer. You can also add liquid left over from marinating the chicken with the soy sauce. If you notice that your batter mix is very clear add tablespoons of flour until it becomes more consistent and thick.
• Once you have made the dough, coat the chicken cubes in it and then fry in a pan containing hot sunflower oil. When you observe that the chicken tacos are of a golden colour, remove from heat and place on a plate with absorbent kitchen paper so to remove the excess oil from frying.
• Meanwhile in another pan sauté the vegetables adding salt and pepper to taste, so to later add them to the chicken dish. You just need to sauté them, they will eventually cook through when in the sweet and sour sauce.
• To make the sweet and sour sauce you mix the following ingredients in a bowl: the three tablespoons of vinegar and three tablespoons of brown sugar. If you do not have this type of sugar, you can use white sugar. You should also add three tablespoons of sweetened pineapple juice. Then add to the mixture a spoonful of soy, one of sunflower oil and one of honey. Add salt and pepper to taste and add a teaspoon of ginger powder and a tablespoon of ketchup. Look at the picture, your sweet and sour sauce should look something like this.
• Mix it all on a low heat. You must watch the honey melt and keep stirring all the ingredients for the flavours to mix slowly.
• Mix the sauce until thick and then incorporates slowly the corn flour to further thicken. The sauce can be concentrated to your liking, the thicker you want it, the more corn flour you should add while stirring the mixture.
• Once you have the sauce to your liking, remove from the heat. Then in a new pan you should add the fried chicken cubes, vegetables and sauce. Mix it up and heat for a few minutes.
• And that is it! You have your Chinese style sweet and sour chicken ready to serve. You can make white basmati rice to accompany. You will delight your guests.
• For more chicken recipes, find outHow to make chicken burgersHow to make creamy chicken cannelloniHow to make a chicken noodle stirfry

CANTONESE CHICKEN

Steps:

• Arrange chicken in dish just big enough to hold 2 breasts flat.
• Mix remaining ingredients well.
• Spoon over chicken, cover and marinate in fridge at least 1 hour.
• Turn chicken over and marinate at least 1 more hour.
• Bake, covered at 375* for 20 minutes.
• Baste chicken and bake uncovered for about 20 more minutes or until tender.

CANTONESE SWEET & SOUR CHICKEN

Steps:

• Cut the chicken into small chunks and mix with the soy sauce and sesame oil. In a jug or bowl, mix together the sauce ingredients with 100ml cold water. Line a large plate with kitchen paper.
• Heat the groundnut oil in a deep-fat fryer to about 180C. Then dip a few chunks of chicken at a time into the batter, then place in the hot oil using tongs or a slotted spoon, but don't crowd the pan. Fry until crisp and golden - about 2 mins. You may need to do this in batches, so reheat the oil each time. As the chunks cook, lift out with tongs/spoon to the paper-lined plate to drain.
• Heat a wok to hot, add about 3 tbsp oil and stir-fry the vegetables with the garlic and ginger for about 3 mins. Give the sauce a quick final stir and pour into the wok, mixing as it cooks to a light glossy sauce. Bubble for 1 min, then spoon over the chicken and serve.

CHINESE SWEET AND SOUR SAUCE

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Mix the potato starch with 1 tablespoon of water (or a little more, as needed) to make a slurry.
• Add all of the ingredients to a saucepan and mix evenly before you start cooking.
• You must continuously stir the sauce to prevent the sauce from getting lumpy.
• Bring the sauce to a boil and turn the heat to the lowest temperature and simmer until the sauce texture has turned thick and sticky. Then it's ready.
• You can stir fry some pork or chicken with vegetables and pour the sauce in.
• If you have any extra sauce, you can keep it in a dry and clean container after it is cooled down and store it in the fridge. Usually, this sauce should last 7 to 10 days in the fridge.

CANTONESE SWEET-AND-SOUR CHICKEN

Steps:

• Cut chicken in 1 inch pieces. Combine cornstarch, soy sauce and ginger in medium bowl. Add chicken, toss to coat, and let stand for 15 minutes. (I actually let the pieces marinate overnight and it made the chicken incredibly tender!).
• In small bowl, drain the pineapple juice from the can and combine it with the sweet-and-sour sauce.
• In a wok or large skillet (that's what I used) over medium high heat, heat oil until hot but not smoking. Add chicken and stir fry 2 minutes; transfer to plate. Add another couple of drops of oil, then add peas and stir fry for a few minutes or until tender enough for your toddler.
• Add chicken, almonds and sweet-and-sour mixture and cook, stirring, until chicken is cooked through and coated with sauce. Gently stir in pineapple and heat through.
• Tip: Serve atop white, fluffy Jasmati Rice!

CROCK-POT CANTONESE SWEET AND SOUR CHICKEN

Steps:

• Place the chicken, peppers strips and onion in the crockpot.
• In a bowl mix the brown sugar and cornstarch. Add 1 cup of the reserved pineapple juice, vinegar, water, soy sauce and salt, blend until smooth. Pour over chicken and veggies.
• Cover and cook on LOW for 7 to 9 hours. One hour before serving, add the pineapple chunks, stir into the meat and sauce.
• Serve over Chow Mein noodles or rice.

CANTONESE SWEET AND SOUR CHICKEN

Steps:

• Cut chicken into 1-in pieces.
• Combine the next 4 ingredients, stir in chicken; let stand for 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile drain canned oranges and reserve 1/4 cup syrup.
• Blend syrup with sweet and sour sauce.
• Heat 1 tbsp oil in a hot wok or large skillet over med-high heat.
• Add chicken cubes and stir-fry 2 minutes; remove; set aside.
• Heat remaining oil in the same wok or frypan; add snow peas and stir-fry 1 minute.
• Add green onions and stir-fry 30 seconds.
• Add in chicken, almonds and sweet and sour mixture; cook stirring until all ingredients are coated with sauce.
• Gently stir in orange segments; heat through.

HONG KONG-STYLE SWEET AND SOUR CHICKEN

Steps:

• First make the sweet and sour sauce by combining the tomato sauce, vinegar, sugar, chicken stock and corn flour in a small saucepan over a low heat. When all the ingredients have come together to form a smooth sauce, remove from the heat and set aside.
• Heat the oil in the wok on a high heat.
• Dip the chicken pieces in the egg then dredge in the cornflour.
• Fry the battered chicken pieces for 4-5 minutes or until crisp and light brown. Remove the meat from the wok and drain. You might need to do this in batches.
• Heat 30ml (2 tbsp) vegetable oil in a clean wok, then fry the pineapple, onion and peppers for 3 minutes.
• Add the chicken and sauce, stir and let the mixture bubble until it's thickened.
• Serve immediately with steamed rice.