Sweet-And-Sour Chicken
Submitted by ruger
Crispy battered chicken deep-fried and tossed with bell peppers, carrots, and lychees in a homemade sweet-and-sour sauce. The real-deal Chinese restaurant version, made from scratch.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
40 minCOOK
10 minREADY
50 minForget those neon-orange packets from the grocery store. This is authentic sweet-and-sour chicken built from the ground up.
Chicken breast cubes get marinated in rice wine and soy, coated in egg-cornstarch batter, and fried until shatteringly crisp.
The sauce comes together separately with chicken stock, rice vinegar, tomato paste, and sugar, then gets loaded with blanched carrots, peppers, scallions, and lychees (or orange segments if you can’t find them).
Everything meets at the end for a quick toss so the chicken stays crunchy under that glossy, tangy-sweet glaze.
Chef Tips
- The batter should be thick but not gloppy. It needs to cling to the chicken without dripping off in heavy globs. Adjust cornstarch if needed.
- Blanch the carrots separately. They take longer than everything else and you want them tender, not raw, when the dish comes together.
- Lychees are the authentic touch that sets this apart from every copycat recipe. Find them canned in the Asian grocery aisle.
- Serve immediately. Like all fried-then-sauced dishes, the clock is ticking on that crispy coating the moment the sauce hits.
Ingredients
Directions
Cut the chicken into 1 inch cubes.
Put the cubes into a bowl together with the rice wine or sherry, 1 tablespoon of light soy sauce and ½ teaspoon salt, and marinate for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, cut the green and red peppers into 1-inch squares.
Peel and cut the carrots and scallions into 1-inch chunks.
Bring a pot of water to a boil and blanch the carrots in it for 4 minutes, then drain and set aside.
Mix the egg and cornstarch in a bowl until they are well blended into a batter.
Lift the chicken cubes out of the marinade, put them into a batter and coat each piece well.
Heat the oil in a deep-fat fryer or large wok until it is almost smoking.
Remove the chicken pieces from the batter with a slotted spoon and deep-fry them.
Drain the deep-fried chicken cubes on paper towels.
TO MAKE THE SAUCE: Combine the chicken stock, soy sauce, salt, vinegar, sugar and tomato paste in a large saucepan.
Bring it to a boil.
Add all the vegetables, but not the lychees or oranges, and stir well.
In a small bowl, blend together the cornstarch and water.
Stir this mixture into the sauce, and bring it back to a boil.
Turn the heat down to a simmer. Add the lychees or oranges and chicken cubes.
Mix well, then turn the mixture onto a deep platter.
Serve at once.
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