sweet and sour chicken рецепт
Sweet and sour chicken
You’ve tasted sweet and sour chicken at the takeaway, but you can make it far better at home and it’s much healthier! The Hairy Bikers show you how.
Each serving provides 310 kcal, 20g protein, 40g carbohydrates (of which 32g sugars), 7g fat (of which 1g saturates), 4g fibre and 0.9g salt.
Ingredients
For the chicken
For the sauce
Method
To make the sauce, put the cornflour in a small bowl and stir in two tablespoons of the pineapple juice until smooth. Put the remaining pineapple juice in a separate bowl and stir in the garlic, ginger, soy, vinegar, sugar, ketchup and chilli flakes until thoroughly combined. Set aside.
Put the pineapple on a board and cut off the skin. Quarter lengthways and remove the tough central core. Cut the pineapple into thick slices and set aside. Cut each chicken breast into seven to nine even pieces (depending on size).
Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan or wok and stir-fry the onion and peppers for three minutes over a high heat. Coat the chicken in the cornflour and add to the pan. Stir-fry for four minutes until very lightly coloured on all sides.
Add the pineapple and sweet and sour sauce to the pan with the chicken and bring to a simmer over a medium heat. Cook for 4–5 minutes, stirring regularly until the chicken is cooked through and the pineapple is hot.
Stir in the cornflour and pineapple solution mixture and cook for 30–60 seconds until the sauce is thickened and glossy, turning the chicken and vegetables until nicely coated. Sprinkle with sliced spring onions and serve hot.
Sweet and Sour Chicken
Sweet and Sour Chicken is made by batter-frying chicken and then tossing it in a quick and easy sweet and sour sauce. If you love Chinese food but don’t live in China, chances are you’ve tried this dish before. Meaning, it’s actually more Western than Chinese!
But really, who doesn’t love crispy fried chicken with that classic sweet and sour combo?
Restaurant Secrets
As with most of the dishes on the blog, I learned how to make this one from my father, who worked as a professional chef in many restaurants for over 25 years.
There are plenty of chef secrets to share with you to make sure you get restaurant-quality Sweet and Sour Chicken every time. Here are my pro tips:
I think that’s enough talking. It’s time to get to cooking (and eating!) this classic Sweet and Sour Chicken. Read on for all the steps that will give you the power to produce restaurant-quality Sweet and Sour Chicken at home! Toss your takeout menus now!
Sweet & Sour Chicken Recipe Instructions
Start by preparing the sauce:
Set aside ½ cup of pineapple juice from your can of pineapple, and reserve ⅔ cup of the pineapple chunks (if using). Set aside. The pineapple juice and pineapple chunks in the recipe are optional. You’ll see them in the ingredients here, but you don’t have to add them to the final dish if you don’t like it too sweet!
Combine the hot water, salt, sugar, and ketchup. Stir until the salt and sugar are dissolved, and then add the vinegar and pineapple juice. Set aside.
Marinate the Chicken:
Experts are recommending that it’s not necessary to wash your chicken before cutting and cooking it (thanks to Judy, one of our readers for pointing this out). If you decide to wash the chicken like I do sometimes (depends on the state of the chicken), be very careful about splashing water and contaminating surfaces with unwanted bacteria. If you do rinse your chicken, don’t worry about patting it dry, as you need water in the marinade—if your chicken is relatively dry / drained, add 1 tablespoon of water.
Cut your chicken into uniform 1 inch chunks (for even cooking) and place into a bowl. Add the garlic and onion powders, sesame oil, white pepper and salt. Mix until all pieces are uniformly coated, and let it sit for 5 minutes. Any excess water should be fully absorbed by the chicken. If not, mix the chicken again and let it sit for another 5 minutes. This process of marinating and hydrating your chicken makes it moist and juicy!
Make the Batter:
Mix together the all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and baking soda in a bowl, and add 2/3 cup of ice water. Use a fork to mix until a batter is formed, and stir in 1 tablespoon of oil. Set aside.
In case you’re curious, the leavening agents and oil make the batter light and crispy. This is what my father explained to me when he first showed me how to make this dish in a restaurant kitchen.
Fry the Chicken:
The amount of oil you need depends on the size of the pot you will use. Using a larger pot uses more oil, but allows you to cook the chicken in fewer batches. Using a smaller pot uses less oil, but you’ll have to fry more batches of chicken. We usually go for a smaller pot, so we have less leftover oil.
Heat the oil in a small pot until it reaches 335 degrees F. It’s really worth it to use a candy thermometer for deep frying. Place 5 to 6 pieces of marinated chicken into the batter. Use a chopstick, fork, or your fingers to coat the chicken in the batter and place each piece slowly into the oil. How much batter you put on the chicken is also a personal preference. I like to coat it with just enough batter that you can’t see the chicken after it’s fried.
Use a slotted spoon to carefully turn the chicken pieces and fry them evenly. Fry for about 2 minutes, or until the batter is a light golden brown and crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon and let any excess oil drain off before placing onto a rack or paper towel lined plate.
Assemble in the Wok:
Heat 1 tablespoon canola oil in a wok over medium high heat, and add the red onion and peppers. Stir-fry for 30 seconds.
Next, add the sweet and sour sauce you prepared earlier and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat so the sauce is simmering.
Stir up your cornstarch slurry until it is uniform. While stirring the sweet and sour sauce, drizzle the slurry into the sauce. The sauce should be thick enough to coat a spoon. Turn down the heat and give the sauce a quick taste––now is the time to add more salt, vinegar or sugar if desired.
At this point, add the pineapple chunks (if using) and stir until warmed through. We decided not to add them this time, as our family doesn’t like this dish as much on the sweet side.
Now is the time to refry the chicken to make them nice and crispy. Heat the oil up to 335 degrees F and fry the chicken in two batches for about 45 seconds each time and they will crisp right up again.
Then add the chicken pieces, and gently toss with your wok spatula to coat in sauce.
Serve your sweet and sour chicken immediately!
Looking for more authentic recipes? Subscribe to our email list and be sure to follow us on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube!
Sweet and Sour Chicken
Published on May 5, 2017 Last updated March 15, 2019
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
Sweet and Sour Chicken with crispy chicken, pineapple and bell peppers just like your favorite takeout place without the food coloring.
Sweet and Sour Chicken, A Classic
Sweet and Sour Chicken is a classic Chinese takeout option most of us are too afraid to make at home. Something about woks and cooking with pineapple make it intimidating for most, but it is so much easier to make than you would think.
Of the classic Chinese Recipes that most people ask for on my blog the one I hear about the absolute most is sweet and sour chicken. I totally get it, it isn’t even just the recipe, but THAT SAUCE. When I was a teenager and I made this sauce for the first time I also actually started learning how to use chopsticks. So for a solid month (I kid you not, my mom was not thrilled with this), I used chopsticks for every meal and had a tiny little bowl of Sweet and Sour Chicken Sauce to dip everything into it.
How to make Sweet and Sour Chicken
When it comes to making a good Sweet and Sour Chicken recipe there are a few tips I love to give out.
Want more Chinese Food Recipes?
Tools used in this Sweet and Sour Chicken recipe:
Pin this recipe now to remember it later
Sweet and Sour Chicken
Ingredients
Instructions
Nutrition
Want to save this recipe? Create a free account to easily save your favorite recipes
About the Author : Sabrina Snyder
Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.
Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.
She is also the author of the upcoming cookbook: Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients which is being published by Harper Collins.
She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.
As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.
Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.
As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.
Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.
Like This Recipe? Share This Recipe
Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.
Sweet and Sour Chicken
Make your favorite takeaway Chinese at home with this sweet and sour chicken recipe. It’s the perfect, easy weeknight main dish.
We don’t deep fry for this Sweet and Sour Chicken recipe. Instead, we use a method for creating a delicate, smooth and succulent chicken that goes perfectly with a lighter, sweet and sour sauce.
Secrets to Standout Sweet and Sour Chicken
The secret is in the chicken marinade, specifically using egg whites and cornstarch, which creates a super-light coating all around the chicken. It won’t be a crunchy, deep fried coating. But we think it’s a nice alternative, both texture-wise and weight-wise!
Just like our Shrimp Fried Rice recipe, a very hot pan is essential to making this Sweet and Sour Chicken so that the chicken can sear quickly. Heat your frying pan until a bead of water will sizzle instantly and evaporate on contact.
Just flick a bit of water onto the hot pan and you should hear a «tssszzzaaaaa» as it hits the surface. If you don’t hear it, let it heat up a little longer.
For some stoves, especially electric stoves, it can take as long as 3 minutes to heat up to the right temperature!
Once the pan is hot, then you can add your chicken. But make sure you keep the chicken in a single layer and do not overcrowd the pieces. If you crowd the chicken bits, they will just steam and not sear in the pan.
Have Your Stir Fry Ingredients Ready
Another important tip to stir-fry is to have your meat at close to room temperature as possible before cooking. This means leaving the chicken out to rest for about 15 minutes on the counter, which is the perfect amount of time for a short marinade.
If you add cold chicken to a hot pan, not only will it stick to the pan, but the heat of the pan will be so busy warming up the chicken that it won’t have a chance to actually sear the meat right away.
Customizing Your Sweet and Sour Sauce
So how sweet and how sour? The beauty of this dish is that you can adjust at the end. Have a little taste of the sauce. Not sweet enough? Add a spoonful of brown sugar. Not tangy enough? Add a teaspoon of vinegar.
Watch This Sweet and Sour Chicken Recipe
Other Ingredients to Use in this Recipe
We include the standard add-ins, like pineapple and colorful bell peppers, in our sweet and sour chicken. But this recipe is versatile enough for whatever else you’d like to toss in. Here are some ideas:
Ketchup in Sweet and Sour Sauce? Yes!
You may be wondering why ketchup is included in the sweet and sour sauce. Ketchup itself is sweet and sour, which makes it a good addition to the sauce. It has a certain savory umami flavor that adds depth and color to the sauce.
Five Dishes to Serve with Sweet and Sour Chicken
Sweet and Sour Chicken
Ingredients
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into 1-inch chunks
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt or 1/4 teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 cup juice from the canned pineapple
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt or 1/4 teaspoon table salt
2 to 3 tablespoons brown sugar
4 teaspoons cooking oil
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch chunks
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
Method
In a bowl, combine the chicken with the egg white, salt and cornstarch. Stir to coat the chicken evenly. Let sit for 15 minutes at room temperature or up to overnight in the refrigerator.
Whisk together the pineapple juice, vinegar, ketchup, salt, and brown sugar.
Heat a large frying pan or wok over high heat until a bead of water instantly sizzles and evaporates. Pour in 1 tablespoon of cooking oil and swirl to coat. It’s important that the pan is very hot.
Add the chicken and spread the pieces out in one layer. Let the chicken fry, untouched for 1 minute, until the bottoms are browned.
Flip and fry the other side for 1 minute. The chicken should still be pinkish in the middle. Dish out the chicken onto a clean plate, leaving as much oil in the pan as possible.
Reduce the heat to medium and add the remaining 1 teaspoon of cooking oil. Let the oil heat up before adding the bell pepper chunks and ginger. Fry for 1 minute.
Add the pineapple chunks and the sweet and sour sauce. Turn up the heat to high. When the sauce is simmering, add the chicken pieces back in.
Let simmer for 1 to 2 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Timing depends on how thick you’ve cut your chicken. The best way to tell if the chicken is done is to take a piece out and cut into it. If it’s pink, add another minute to the cooking.
Taste the sauce and add more brown sugar or vinegar to suit your tastes, if you’d like.
Serve hot with steamed white or brown rice.
Sweet and Sour Chicken
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.
Other Recipes You Might Like
Sweet and Sour Sauce
How do you make sweet and sour chicken sauce?
You will need the following simple ingredients to make the sauce:
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:
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.
Chow Mein
Fried Rice
Hot and Sour Soup
Crab Rangoon
5 Secrets to 20 Min Dinners
Get tricks for quick & easy meals!
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!
Ingredients
Batter:
Sweet and Sour Sauce:
Instructions
Notes
Watch the cooking video on this page for step-by-step guide.