This quick and easy sweet and sour chicken is delicious and addicting. It is so easy to cook that it can be ready to eat in a jiffy. The pineapple and vinegar added are the sweet and sour in this Asian-style chicken cuisine. It makes an excellent family dinner and a convenient and tasty lunch pack too.
Easy Sweet And Sour Chicken
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Ingredients
- 300 g chicken thigh fillets, cut into 1 inch cubes
- 2 pieces canned pineapple rings, sliced
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1 orange bell pepper
(Sauce)
- ½ cup pineapple juice, reserved
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ¾ cup water
- ¼ cup sugar
- ¼ cup distilled white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon tomato ketchup
(Batter)
- 1 cup self-rising flour
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 egg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper, ground
- ¾ cup water
- Start by making the sweet and sour sauce. In a saucepan add pineapple juice, 3/4 cup water, sugar, tomato ketchup and white vinegar. Whisk all the ingredients together.
- Heat the pan over medium heat until it comes to a boil. Take it off the heat.
- In a small bowl combined 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and 2 tablespoons water,mixing them well. Add the cornstarch mixture into the saucepan and stir it and reheat the sauce until it thickens.
- In a separate bowl, prepare the batter for the chicken. Add self-rising flour, vegetable oil, cornstarch ,salt,pepper and egg into the bowl. Mix well.
- Then add 3/4 cup of water gradually and stir it to form a thick batter. (use 1 egg white instead of 1 whole egg if you prefer a crispier batter)
- Next, cut the chicken thigh fillets into 1 inch cube.
- Add the chicken into the bowl with the batter. Stir the chicken fillets in the batter until they are well coated.
- Heat oil in a skillet or wok. Fry the chicken pieces in the hot oil for about 10 minutes or until golden brown.
- Remove chicken pieces from skillet and drain on paper towels.
- When ready to serve the sweet and sour chicken, slice 1 green and 1 red bell pepper into 1/2 inch pieces.
- Then layer the bell peppers, pineapple slices and cooked chicken on a platter.
- Finally pour the sweet and sour sauce over the chicken. Serve with rice.
- To pack this dish into a lunchbox, layer the bell peppers, pineapple slices and cooked chicken in the lunchbox.
- Put the sweet and sour sauce separately in a small bottle or container. Only pour the sauce into the cooked chicken when ready to eat.
- Serve with rice packed in lunchbox.
Instructions
Enjoy!
Start by making the sweet and sour sauce. Drain the juice from 1 can of pineapple. Cut the pineapple into thick slices. Set the pineapple slices aside for later use.
Prepare the ingredients needed to cook the sweet and sour sauce.
Put the pineapple juice, vinegar and tomato ketchup in a saucepan. Whisk all the ingredients together.
Heat the pan over medium heat until it comes to a boil. Once the sauce has come to a boil, take it off the heat.
Then in a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and water, mixing them well.
Add the cornstarch mixture into the saucepan and stir.
Then reheat the sauce until it thickened. Leave aside.
Next, prepare the ingredients needed to make the batter for the chicken.
In a separate bowl, add in flour,vegetable oil,cornstarch,salt, pepper and lastly an egg.
Mixed the ingredients well.
Then add 3/4 cup of water gradually.
Stir to form a thick batter.
Next, cut 300g chicken thigh fillets into 1 inch cube. Season with salt and pepper.
Add the chicken cubes into the batter.
Stir the chicken in the batter until it is well coated.
Heat some vegetable oil in a large skillet or wok. Heat till oil is hot enough to fry the chicken. Small bubbles will appear at the bottom of the chopstick when ready.
Fry the batter coated chicken in the oil for about 10 minutes or until they are golden brown and cooked through.
Remove the chicken and drain them on paper towels.
Then cut 1 green and 1 orange bell pepper into 1/2 inch pieces. These not only add colours to the chicken but also make for a healthier and flavourful dish.
To serve, layer the cooked chicken, cut bell peppers and pineapple slices on a platter. Finally pour the sweet and sour sauce over the chicken. Served with rice, sweet and sour chicken is as good if not better than the one you can find in a restaurant.
To make a lunch pack, first assemble the fried chicken cubes in a lunch box.
Then layer the colourful bell peppers over the cooked chicken.
Lastly add the drained pineapple slices.
Sweet and sour chicken is best served with rice. So cook some rice ( mixed with brown rice). Shape the rice with rice molds to make them more appealing and cute.
Assemble the cute bento rice in a lunch box.
For a more attractive and creative look, use a craft puncher to snip crispy seaweed into “smiley” face pieces.
Decorate on the bento rice.
Lastly blanch some cut broccoli and carrots in hot water. Place them among the bento rice. This not just provide for a healthy and balance lunch pack, but more importantly, it will appeal to kids who dislike eating vegetables or the picky eaters.
Pack the sweet and sour sauce separately in a small bottle to be poured over the chicken only when ready to eat.
Packed together the lunchbox for the bento rice, chicken and bottle of sauce.
Put the lunch pack into a thermal insulation food bag.
And you’re done!
FINALLY, pour the sweet and sour sauce over the cooked chicken when it’s LUNCH time!
SO ENJOY!
