How To Make Sweet And Sour Chicken In 22 Minutes
By Rhoda Boone. Photos by: Chelsea Kyle.
Sweet and sour chicken is one of those Chinese-American dishes that, like General Tso's Chicken, is available in every airport, mall, and Chinese takeout spot across the U.S.—but you'd be hard-pressed to find in China. And that's okay, because the dish offers plenty to love: crisp fried chicken pieces coated in a sticky, tangy sauce, often tossed with onions, bell peppers, and pineapple. (Yes, pineapple. I admit that it's a strange and sort of trashy addition, and one that takes the recipe in a decidedly non-Chinese direction. But those juicy bites of pineapple do add a brightness to the dish. And hey, it works for Hawaiian pizza.)
Sweet and sour chicken is so ubiquitous across America that my colleagues and I were shocked to discover that out of the 35,000+ recipes on our site, not one of them was for the takeout favorite.
I knew what I had to do. And to make it a little more of a challenge (and to make the recipe weeknight-friendly), I decided to attempt a sweet and sour chicken you can make in just 22 minutes.
But first, some research. To remind ourselves of just what sweet and sour chicken should be, my colleagues and I did a quick search on Yelp for the best version in our delivery zone, then promptly placed an order (all in the name of research, of course). What arrived was disappointing to say the least: greasy chunks of chicken coated in a thick batter and covered in a toothache-inducing red syrup that most certainly did not come from nature.
I knew the dish could be so much better, so I set out to make a lighter version, swapping out the heavy deep-fried chicken for lighter pan-fried pieces, and exchanging the gloppy, saccharine, scary red sauce for a balanced sauce with layers of flavor.
Here's how to make sweet and sour chicken, broken down minute-by-minute:
1. Cook the rice and prep the vegetables [0:00-5:00]
If you'd like rice with your meal, it's time to get it going. Quick-cooking rice can be ready in an instant, but traditional white (and especially brown) rice will take a little longer to cook—try this hack to speed up the process. I like to prep all my vegetables before slicing any raw meat so that I only have to wash my cutting board and knife once—so go ahead and slice the onion, bell pepper, and scallion now.
2. Slice the chicken and toss in seasoned cornstarch [5:00-9:00]
You can use chicken breasts, thighs, or a mix for this recipe. Cut them into 1-inch, bite-sized chunks and be sure to pat them dry with paper towels. Since my goal was a lighter, healthier version of sweet and sour chicken, I decided to skip a thick batter and instead tossed the chicken in seasoned cornstarch.
3. Pan-fry the first batch of chicken and make the sauce [9:00-14:00]
Heat a little oil in your skillet—I'm actually partial to using a good non-stick skillet for this dish—over high and cook half of the chicken. The light cornstarch dusting gives the chicken a golden-brown crust without the grease and mess of deep frying. (Bonus: the cornstarch also makes this a gluten-free meal if you opt for tamari over soy in the sauce.) Be sure to turn the chicken occasionally so it browns evenly on all sides.
While the chicken cooks, make the sauce. As we noticed in our takeout lunch, the sauce for sweet and sour chicken is often imbalanced: way too much sweet and not enough sour. So I worked to attain a more proportional blend of flavors. For the sweet element, I liked honey because it helps create a caramelized crust on the chicken and gives the sauce a glaze-like consistency; however, too much honey overwhelmed the sauce with its strong taste. I decided to cut back on the honey and add a little brown sugar to the mix for sweetness without as much perceptible flavor.
For the sour element, I tried rice wine vinegar first, but its tang-factor is pretty low on the scale. Apple cider vinegar packs a more potent punch and helps balance the sweetness. I also added a little pineapple juice, which has both sweet and sour elements, to create a harmonious, flavorful sauce. Next, I thought about the unsettling bright red hue so often found in sweet and sour chicken. Much like I add tomato paste to my General Tso's Chicken for an umami boost and a little color, I added some ketchup to the sweet and sour sauce. It might sound untraditional and even a little weird, but it gives the sauce the subtle red color that most people associate with the dish, as well as adds to the sweet and sour complexity of the sauce. Finally, in goes a few shakes of soy sauce, finely grated garlic, and a touch of salt.
4. Pan-fry the second batch of chicken, then add the vegetables [14:00-19:00]
Transfer the first batch of chicken to a plate, heat a little more oil, and add the second batch of chicken. After it's cooked for about three minutes, add the onion and bell pepper. Pan-fry until the chicken has cooked through and the vegetables have softened a little but still hold some crunch, about two minutes more.
5. Add the pineapple and the sauce and dish it out [19:00-22:00]
Now it's time to add the sauce, pineapple, and return the first batch of chicken to the skillet. Give it all a toss and let the sauce reduce just a little bit (you want it to remain pretty loose). Serve with scallions on top, rice on the side, and takeout menus (which you don't need anymore) as placemats.
Get this recipe: Quick Sweet and Sour Chicken
This story originally appeared on Epicurious.
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