Homemade Chinese Sweet & Sour Chicken

Homemade Chinese Sweet & Sour Chicken

Sweet and sour is probably the most popular Chinese sauce served in Chinese restaurants all over the world especially in western countries. This sauce is not unique to China and is enjoyed by many different cultures.

Having tasted Chinese food myself from several different countries, I would say each one has a different taste. There are also many different variations of how this sauce is made although most Chinese restaurants seem to use a prepared one that tastes similar. 

The traditional sweet and sour is usually made with cubes of chicken, pork, fish or shrimp deep fried in a batter and then served with a sweet and sour sauce. Most of the times the sauce will include pineapple chunks, green pepper and onions. It can usually be served along with other meats with white rice, fried rice, vegetables or noodles.

My dad is Chinese, so from a young child we dined at many Chinese restaurants both in Jamaica and while we lived in America. My favorite dish was always sweet and sour chicken or pork as it still is.

So of course I had to set out on a quest to find and develop my best home made version of this to be able to make myself for my family. I hope you will enjoy it.

Ingredients

• Boneless Chicken – I personally prefer boneless thighs but breasts are fine.
• Onion
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Light Soy Sauce
• Cornstarch
• Oil
• White Sugar
• Apple Cider Vinegar
• Pineapple Juice
• Ketchup
• Worcestershire Sauce
• Oyster Sauce
• Light Soy Sauce
• Salt
• Water
• Pineapple tidbits
• Green Pepper
• Red Pepper
• Onions

How To Make Sweet & Sour Chicken

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1. Cut up your chicken in bite size pieces and lightly season with a few ingredients.
2. Place in a sealed seasoning bowl in the fridge for at least an hour.
3. When ready to cook, toss the chicken in the cornstarch, Heat up a large non-stick skillet on medium heat, wait a few minutes to get hot and add oil.
4. When oil is hot, start cooking chicken pieces in batches using a slotted fryer spoon, not too much at a time, a few minutes on each side until golden brown. As they cook, place on a paper towel lined plate.
5. Combine the sauce ingredients together in a small pot except the vegetables. Bring to a low boil and thicken with diluted cornstarch. 
6. When sauce is ready, add the vegetables.
7. In the large skillet, combine the sauce with the chicken and serve.

Print

Sweet & Sour Chicken

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 6 Servings

Author Dianne

Ingredients

Chicken Marinade

• 3 Lbs. 12 deboned thighs
• 1/4 cup Onion grated
• 1 Tbsp. Garlic grated
• 1 Tbsp. Ginger grated
• 3 Tbsp. Light Soy Sauce
• 2 Tbsp. + 2 tsp. Cornstarch

Chicken preparation for frying

• 1 cup Cornstarch 1st coating
• 1-1/2 cup Cornstarch dipping for frying
• 1 Cup Oil for frying

Sweet & Sour Sauce

• 2/3 Cup White Sugar
• 1/3 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1/3 Cup Pineapple Juice
• 1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp. Ketchup
• 2 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce
• 2 tsp. Oyster Sauce
• 2 Tbsp. Light Soy Sauce
• 1/2 tsp. Salt
• 2-1/2 Tbsp. Cornstarch + a little more if needed
• 1 cup Water
• 8 Oz. Can of pineapples cut up
• 1/4 Cup Green pepper cut in chunks
• 1/4 cup Red Pepper
• 1/4 Cup Onions cut in chunks

Instructions

1. Cut chicken in small pieces, place in a medium bowl and season with chicken marinade ingredients.

   Marinade a couple hours or overnight.

2. Coat chicken with 1st cornstarch coating and let sit around 5 minutes.

   Set up second coating of cornstarch in a seperate bowl for dipping before frying

3. Heat oil in a medium but deep pot on medium heat.

4. Place a couple pieces at a time to fry in the hot oil cooking around 2 minutes on each side. Drain on a large plate lined with paper towels.

Sweet & Sour Sauce

1. In a small saucepan, combine all the ingredients for sauce except water and cornstarch and vegetables. Heat on medium heat until hot.

2. In a small cup combine cornstarch and water. Add to pot stirring constantly until thickens. Cook a few minutes and add a little more diluted cornstarch if needed.

   Add vegetables when sauce thickens. Stir around 1 minute and remove from heat.

3. Stir sauce with chicken when ready to serve.