This one is a family favourite ❤️
This recipe serves four, takes around 1 hour from start to finish.
- 4 chicken breasts cut into 1 inch chunks
- 1 cup of cornstarch
- 3 eggs beaten
- 1 cup of flour
- 1 small tin of pineapple chunks drained (1 cup of fresh pineapple chunks if you prefer).
- 1 red bell pepper – deseeded and cut into chunks
- 1 green bell pepper – deseeded and cut into chunks
- 1 yellow or red onion – cut into chunks.
- Ghee or lard for frying (you can use vegetable oil, I prefer not to use vegetable oil).
Sweet ‘n’ Sour Sauce
- 1/2 cup of cane sugar
- 1/4 cup of brown sugar
- 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar
- 1/3 cup of ketchup
- 4 teaspoons of light soy sauce
- 4 cloves of garlic minced – you can use less garlic if you prefer.
I love this recipe because the chicken is always lovely and crispy and there’s a nice sweet tang to the sauce. It is a family favourite in our house.
Method
- Toss the chicken pieces in the cornstarch. You can do this by putting in a zip-lock bag and making sure everything is fully coated, or put in a bowl and toss till fully coated. Go with what you prefer; there are no hard and fast rules here!
- Have your eggs and flour ready in two separate bowls for the next part.
- Once the chicken is fully coated with the cornstarch, you can then dip the chicken into the beaten egg and toss it into the flour. This creates a lovely crisp coating during the frying process.
- In a heavy pan melt your ghee or lard (I use around 1/4-1/2 a block of lard), so that you can shallow fry the coated chicken in batches. Fry for about 2-3 mins and place on a cookie sheet or baking tray.
- In a large wok or skillet (I prefer a wok, as shown in the picture), add a tablespoon of the oil from the chicken pan, then add the peppers, onion, and pineapple, and cook over high heat for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the chicken pieces and sauce to the wok or skillet and stir until the sauce is bubbling and starting to thicken.
Serve immediately with you choice of side – we like basmati or jasmine rice.
TIPS/IDEAS
If you want to make the chicken ahead, you can. Simply fry the chicken as detailed above, place on a cookie or baking sheet (single layer), let cool, and then freeze on a sheet if you have room, once frozen transfer to a bag and keep in the freezer. Take out and bake in the oven at 425 degrees F for around 20 mins until fully cooked. You can use it in other stir fry dishes or as a simple appetizer with a dip!
Another shortcut tip: purchase good-quality chicken-type nuggets to use when you are in a pinch and don’t have time for all the prep. Make sure they’re not breadcrumb-coated, because my experience with these was less than nice! Costco has some great chicken bites.
Note: taking shortcuts isn’t being lazy or cheating (as long as the meat is fully cooked), do what’s right for you, my motto is always “it doesn’t matter”! – because at the end of the day, those that matter don’t mind and those that mind don’t matter!!
Collescapes 