The best chicken with with red sauce chinese ever. It is very easy to make and is made in a wok or skillet. You can also use fresh or frozen vegetables. This chicken recipe is great for serving as an appetizer or a main dish over rice with a side of naan, chapati or pita bread. Enjoy!
Chinese chicken with sauce is a tasty and nutritious dish that you can cook in just 20 minutes. It is a healthy, cheap and delicious meal for the whole family to enjoy
Sweet and Sour Chicken Hong Kong Style
An absolute winner of a dish
This has to be our favourite dish. We love the slick red sauce coating the delicious chicken pieces. Coupled with boiled rice this dish definitely wins at life. Traditionally this dish has peppers, onions and pineapple chunks in it. If you’re not fond of pineapple, you can leave these out.
Time: Prep 10 mins / Cooking 15 mins
Difficulty: HardMild
Ingredients
SERVES 2
For deep frying
- 600ml vegetable oil, for a 6.5 inch saucepan we used 600ml of oil, alternatively use a smaller saucepan. You want about an inch of oil in the bottom of the pan.
For the chicken
- 1 breast chicken, cut into 1.5 inch strips
- Salt
- White Pepper, to taste
- 1/2 egg, beaten
- 40g potato starch or cornflour (either works fine)
For the sauce
- 35g vinegar
- 55g granulated sugar
- 25g ketchup
- 5g tomato puree
- 10g Worcester sauce
- 1 tsp potato starch or cornflour (either works fine), to add into sauce before you cook with it
Note: The sauce will be red but not bright red like the takeaways, as they will probably use food colouring to get that colour.
For the dish
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 pineapple ring
- 1/2 small onion, cut into chunks
- 1/4 red pepper, cut into chunks
- 1/4 green pepper, cut into chunks
Buy the ingredients:
CORNFLOUR
Preparation
1
Heat the oil in the pan on medium-high heat whilst you prepare everything else.
2
Prepare the vegetables for the dish.
3
Prepare the chicken. Cut 1.5 inch strips. Season the meat with about 1/2 tsp salt and sprinkle of white pepper. Pour half a beaten egg in and coat the chicken pieces. Then mix in the potato starch (or cornflour) and coat the pieces again.
Ready? Let’s cook!
1
To make the sweet and sour sauce: In a saucepan pour the vinegar and add the granulated sugar in, heat these up on a low heat until the sugar dissolves.
2
Add the ketchup, tomato puree and Worcester sauce and mix. Put this to one side as the sauce is now complete and ready.
3
Turn the oil to low heat. Take your chicken pieces and place them individually into the oil. Move them around, with a wooden spatula or wooden chopsticks, so they don’t stick to each other. Fry them for 3 minutes.
4
When the chicken pieces start to float, turn the heat to high and fry for an extra 1 minute. Use a slotted spoon and take the pieces out onto a plate and leave on the side for now.
5
To put the dish together. Heat wok on high heat. Add 1 tbsp vegetable oil.
6
Add in peppers , onion and pineapple and fry for 1 minute.
7
Take the sauce and add in 1 tsp of potato starch (or cornflour) and mix in. Add sauce to the pan and cook for 1 minute.
8
Add chicken pieces to the pan and stir everything together. Once everything is coated with sauce, it is ready to serve.
9
Sweet And Sour Chicken– Quick & Easy Chinese Recipe
Which Chinese restaurant serves the best takeout sweet and sour chicken?
Unfortunately, you probably won’t find any store.
This is because the best time to eat the sweet and sour chicken is when it is fresh from the wok immediately after deep frying. This moment is when the chicken is crispy, and chicken juice is oozing out each bite, with light and crunchy skin coated with the sweet and sour sauce.
The chicken will become soggy when you reach home from the takeout, losing all the zingy taste you expect.
It turns out the best sweet and sour chicken is right in your kitchen. Freshly made, it is insanely delicious.
A quick and simple dish for the whole family
If you like Chinese food, this sweet and sour chicken recipe is ideal for a quick and delicious meal for your family. You can serve it together with steamed rice as most Asians do, with noodles, bread, or a bowl of salads. It tastes just as good as directly from the Chinese restaurants.
The best of all is that this is a foolproof recipe. You can adjust the amount of chili sauce, plum sauce, and sugar in the recipe to what you prefer.
Why is Chinese sweet and sour chicken special?
The origin of sweet and sour chicken was in the 18th century or earlier in China. It spread to the United States in the early 20th century after the Chinese migrant gold miners and railroad workers turned to food and drink as trades. In some countries, the dish is known as Ku lo yuk 咕噜肉. Traditionally, pork is used, but I use boneless chicken breasts in this popular recipe as it is more popular and acceptable to everyone. You can also use chicken thighs meat if you which is more tender and juicy.
This dish consists of chicken with cornstarch batter into bite-sized pieces and subsequently coated with the sweet and sour sauce that consists of ketchup, chili sauce, plum sauce, sugar, lemon juice, and salt. Some versions of Ku lo sauce contain vinegar (e.g., apple cider vinegar) instead of plum sauce. The sauce is stir-fried in a large skillet with vegetables such as tomato, cucumber, pineapple, and onion. The deep-fried chicken pieces are then added to the vegetables to stir-fry over medium-high heat briefly to preserve the crispiness.
Quick and easy sweet and sour chicken recipe
Want to impress your friends and family members? This authentic Sweet and Sour Chicken is the answer! Authentic and delectable Chinese take-out standard dish made right in your home kitchen. You can prepare this recipe in just twenty minutes.
The fine points of the sweet and sour chicken recipe
1. Marinate
- Cut the meat into small pieces, preferably about 1-inch, and keep dry by putting on a kitchen towel, single layer. The shape does not matter, but small pieces will enable the flavor of the marinade and the sweet and sour sauce to penetrate right into the meat.
- It is best to marinate the meat for at least half an hour. The soy sauce will add flavor to the meat, and the cornstarch will give a velvety texture to the meat.
2. Frying
- Coat the meat with cornstarch for deep frying will ensure you get crispy chicken even after it is doused in the sauce. However, the meat will be less crisp (soggy) after coating with the sauce if wheat flour (i.e., the regular cake flour/pastry flour) is used.
- The meat pieces will stick together as cornstarch is quite sticky and gooey. You can use a pair of chopsticks or a wooden spatula to separate the meat pieces in the deep fryer for the first minute of deep-frying. You can also use a large skillet or wok to deep-fry if you do not have an electric deep-fryer.
- Vegetables such as peanut oil, palm oil, and corn oil are all suitable for deep-frying. Place the chicken pieces in the hot oil and stir lightly in the first minute. This step helps to prevent the chicken pieces from sticking together.
3. Choice of ingredients
- The selection of vegetables – cucumber, green bell peppers, red bell peppers, onion, and fresh pineapple chunks is not only multicolor but also provides a variety of tastes and textures to the dish. It also makes this dish balanced from a nutritional point, as it is a complete dish with protein, carbohydrates, and lots of fiber.
- Cutting the cucumber, capsicum (green peppers), onion, and pineapple into different shapes will significantly enhance the dish’s presentation.
- If you use canned pineapple, check the sweetness of the pineapple. Some canned pineapples are sweetened, which means you need to reduce the sugar you use. You can also use brown sugar for a more caramelized flavor if you use fresh pineapple.
- You can also add some green onions (scallion) to the dish during the final part of stir-frying. Another item you can use is to add some sesame oil after switching off the heat and sprinkle some sesame seeds on top to serve.
4. The sweet and sour sauce
- I normally make the sweet and sour sauce in advance, usually in a larger batch. Keep it in separate containers, so you only need to take one portion out from your freezer when required.
- The amount of sauce you need is a very personal choice. You can generally use any amount from 25g to 35g of sauce for every 100g of meat you intend to cook.
- The three main constituents of the sweet and sour sauce are chili sauce, tomato ketchup (or tomato paste), and plum sauce. You may find that these ingredients’ flavors can vary from brand to brand. The brand I use is as below, but by all means, use any brands you can find where you live. You may need to adjust the amount to suit your taste buds to the desired sourness, spiciness, and sweetness you wish to achieve. Let me know the outcome by putting your comment in the comment box at the bottom of this post.
- You may also use lime juice instead of lemon juice. There is no fixed formula for this, even though for the most authentic way to prepare it.
- Cornstarch slurry is unnecessary as this sticky sauce coats the chicken piece.
5. How to make the sweet and sour sauce in bulk
The sweet and sour sauce is also suitable for other Chinese foods. For example, we also use it for sweet and sour pork, sweet and sour tofu, and sweet and sour fish. These recipes have minor differences, but they are prepared with the same sauce. Therefore, it is helpful to make a large batch and prepare another dish next time.
The method is straightforward. Place all the ingredients below in a small pot over low heat and wait until they boil. Then remove it from heat and let it return to room temperature.
Transfer the sauce to airtight containers that are freezer-safe. This sweet and sour chicken recipe is enough to fill up eight containers. Each portion is meant for cooking one pound of chicken/fish/pork.
The sauce ingredients are:
- Tomato sauce 420g
- Chilli sauce 270g
- Plum sauce 250g
- Sugar 170g
- Lemon juice 60g
- Salt 25g
Method of preparation:
- Mix all the items and bring them to a boil.
Note: Some recipes use rice vinegar to make the sauce. However, I prefer adding the acidic taste with lemon juice, which adds more flavor to the chicken.
6. The cooking process
- Marinate the chicken with cornstarch, soy sauce, and egg white in a large bowl for about 30 minutes.
- Deep the meat into the egg wash and then cornstarch.
- Remove the excess cornstarch and deep-fried the meat until it is crispy and golden brown. Remove the extra oil with paper towels.
- Heat some vegetable oil in a wok. Briefly stir-fry the capsicum, pineapple, and onion for a minute.
- Add the ingredients of the sweet and sour sauce to the vegetables. Turn to high heat and stir-fry quickly until the sauce is thickened.
- Turn off the heat. Add the chicken to the vegetables. Coat the meat with the sauce and serve.
Note:
- Turn off the heat before coating the meat with the sauce will help preserve the crispiness of the meat. Also, it is best not to continue stir-frying the meat with the sauce, as the meat will lose its crispness rapidly.
- If you do not want to make the sauce but still prefer to prepare the chicken yourself, head to the Asin grocery store to get the store-bought sweet and sour sauce!
Lastly, serve immediately while the deep-fried meat is still crispy. Serve with white rice is better than flavored rice or fried rice as Sweet And Sour Chicken is so flavorful!
YIELD: 3 PORTIONS
Sweet And Sour Chicken
Sweet and sour chicken is a popular Chinese recipe. This healthy and crispy sweet and sour chicken recipe is so delicious with sweet and sour sauce. It’s better than takeout!
Sweet and Sour Chicken Recipe
Sweet and sour chicken is one of the most popular Chinese recipes.
Chinese sweet and sour is a cooking style that is easy, delicious and everyone’s favorite.
The dish comes complete with crispy fried chicken cubes with mouthwatering sweet and sour sauce. It goes well with steamed rice, fried rice or chow mein.
Sweet and Sour Sauce
How do you make sweet and sour chicken sauce?
You will need the following simple ingredients to make the sauce:
- Ketchup.
- Chili sauce.
- Plum sauce.
- Lea and Perrins Worcestershire sauce.
- Chinese rice vinegar.
- Sugar.
My recipe is healthy with no red food coloring in the sauce.
You can make the sweet sour sauce in advance, store in an air-tight container and keep in the refrigerator.
How to Make Sweet and Sour Chicken?
The recipe is easy and simple. First, cut the chicken into bite-sized cubes.
Then make the sweet and sour chicken batter and coat the chicken with the batter.
Next, deep fry the chicken and stir fry with the sweet sour sauce.
Cook’s Tips
For the best sweet and sour chicken, please following my cooking tips below:
- The combination of plum sauce, Lea and Perrins Worcestershire sauce and Chinese rice vinegar make the sauce tastes like the best Chinese restaurants.
- DO NOT double the sauce. The sauce should lightly coat the chicken cubes so the chicken remain crispy and not soggy.
- Use baking powder in the batter. The baking powder makes the batter light and airy and the chicken will be extra crispy and crunchy.
- DO not use red coloring in the sauce.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Add Pineapple To The Recipe?
Yes, you sure can. Just opt out the tomatoes in the recipe and replace with pineapple.
You may use fresh pineapple or canned pineapple with syrup. If you use canned pineapple, remember to discard the syrup before cooking.
Cut the pineapple into bite-sizes pieces before cooking.
Can I Use Air Fryer To Fry The Chicken?
Yes, you can use air fryer. Just lightly coat the chicken with the batter and air fry in an air fryer.
How Many Calories per Serving?
This recipe is only 162 calories per serving.
What to Serve with This Recipe?
Serve this dish with steamed rice or other rice and noodle dishes. For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.