Sweet and sour sauce with crispy chicken and vegetables
You probably have most of the ingredients lurking in your cupboard to make this glossy sweet and sour sauce. Toss in some crisp coated chicken, pineapple, peppers and onions for a homemade version of a takeaway favourite.
Ingredients
For the sweet and sour sauce
- 4 tbsp white malt vinegar
- 3 tbsp tomato ketchup
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 4 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp pineapple juice from a tin or lemon juice
- 1 tsp corn flour
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- pinch salt
For the crispy chicken and vegetables
- Vegetable oil, for shallow frying
- 1 egg white
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- ¼ tsp white pepper
- 1 large chicken breast, cut into 2cm pieces
- 100²µ/3½´Ç³ú cornflour
- ½ onion, roughly chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 red pepper, roughly chopped
- 10 pineapple chunks from a tin
Method
To make the sweet and sour sauce, mix all the ingredients in a small saucepan with 120ml/4fl oz water. Bring to the boil and simmer until thick and glossy.
To make the crispy chicken and vegetables, mix the egg white, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and white pepper together in a large bowl. Add the chicken and toss to coat well.
Place the cornflour in another bowl and transfer the chicken to the bowl, tossing the chicken to make sure each piece is well coated. Add more cornflour if needed.
heat 1cm oil in a large deep saucepan over a medium heat and fry the chicken pieces, turning until crisp, golden and cooked through. Drain on kitchen paper.
Drain the oil from the pan, leaving 1 tablespoon in the pan then add the onion, garlic and pepper and fry for 2 minutes over a high heat.
Add the sweet and sour sauce, pineapple and half the chicken and heat through until piping hot. Serve with the rest of the chicken on top.
Recipe Tips
You could use firm tofu in place of chicken for a vegetarian version.
You could also serve this sweet and sour chicken with some plain or egg fried rice.