Festive Sweet & Sour Chicken

This sweet and sour chicken skips the deep-fried batter route and goes straight for a fast wok stir-fry that’s on the table in about 25 minutes. The sauce gets its backbone from pineapple juice, ketchup, apple cider vinegar, and brown sugar, thickened with cornstarch until it coats the back of a spoon.

The key move is cooking the chicken first and pulling it out before the vegetables hit the wok. This way the chicken sears properly instead of steaming, and the peppers and onion keep their crunch. Everything comes back together once the sauce bubbles and thickens.

Water chestnuts add that signature crunch you’d find in a Chinese takeout version, and serving it over crispy chow mein noodles instead of rice gives the whole dish a satisfying textural contrast.

Chef Tips

• Cut the chicken into even-sized chunks so they cook at the same rate. Uneven pieces mean some are overcooked while others are still pink.
• Let the sauce boil for a full minute after it thickens. This cooks out the raw cornstarch taste and gives the glaze a glossy sheen.
• Don’t stir the chicken constantly during its 3 minutes in the wok. Let it sit and develop color on each side before flipping.

Variations

• Use fresh pineapple instead of canned and substitute orange juice mixed with a tablespoon of rice vinegar for the pineapple juice.
• Add a teaspoon of sriracha or red pepper flakes to the sauce for a spicy sweet and sour version.
• Swap chicken for firm tofu, pressed and cubed, for a vegetarian take.