Friday, September 25, 2009

Sweet and Sour Chicken

My family LOVES Chinese food! We used to go to this great Chinese restaurant and order their great sweet and sour chicken all the time. But not anymore. Why? Because I've found the BEST sweet and sour chicken recipe on Melanie's blog "My Kitchen Cafe" I'd tried lots of different sweet and sour chicken recipes many, many times before but they just weren't good enough for me to make again. But this recipe was simple and easy and I will definitely make it again. I had a friend over when I made this and she really enjoyed it, too. Melanie suggests that we bake the chicken after frying it and it worked out great! But if you don't have much time, I think it will also be great if you just thickened the sauce on stove on low heat and mix it in with the fried chicken bites. The choice is yours!

Melanie's Sweet and Sour Chicken
From My Kitchen Cafe

Chicken:
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil

Cut boneless chicken breasts into chunks. Season with salt and pepper. Dip chicken in cornstarch and then in egg. Fry in a little oil until brown but not cooked through. Place in a single layer in a baking dish. Mix sauce ingredients (below) together and pour over chicken.

Sauce:
¾ cup sugar
4 tablespoons ketchup
½ cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic salt

Bake for one hour at 325 degrees. Turn chicken every 15 minutes. If you like extra sauce, make another batch of sauce and bring it to a boil on the stovetop. Stir constantly and let cook over medium heat until thickened and reduced - about 6-8 minutes.

12 comments:

  1. I just noticed your "Sook the Cook" signature. That's really cute.

    I'm glad you liked this recipe. I came up with it when I was going to school at BYU - it was a combined effort from me and my roommate. It's my husband's favorite meal!

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  2. Melanie - I can't believe you came up with the recipe! It's so good! You should open a restaurant. :)

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  3. Yay! It was soo good I've been telling Brian I can't wait to make it once you post the recipe, so yay! I can make it again!

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  4. Wow, you make great Chinese food! I'm impressed.

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  5. Kenny- Are you Chinese? I don't even know if they really eat these kinds of food there. I've heard a lot of American style Chinese food is very different from real stuff! But yes, this sweet and sour chicken is fabulous! Thanks for stopping by again.

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  6. Looks like it came straight out of a restaurant--love it!! I'm not even a huge fan of Chinese food, but this looks gooood! :-)

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  7. Thanks CaSaundraLeigh- Wow I didn't think it was possible not to like Chinese food. :-)

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  8. Oh Sook, I think it's not Americanized Chinese food. It looks very authentic Hong Kong Chinese to me, this is a popular dish in HK too, apart from sweet and sour pork, hahaha, and btw, I always read your blog^^

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  9. Wow, that is cool! When I go to Chinese restaurants I always ask the waitresses there if they really eat this stuff. They always laugh and say no. ha ha But I guess Hong Kong is different. :-) Someday, I would love to visit China (Hong Kong and Taiwan too) and eat all their authentic food. That would be a dream come true.

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  10. I made this tonight for the missionaries and it was a hit. Brian was thrilled I made enough for leftovers,too!

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  11. Amy-
    I am so glad that you got to make it for missionaries! I'm glad Brian liked it too! I don't know why I've always thought he was hard to impress but I'm really glad that everyone enjoyed it. It's one of my faves! But Sean doesn't really like vinegar so I only get to make it every once in a while. Otherwise, I'd make it all the time!

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