Sweet and Sour Chicken

I like things in a sweet and sour sauce. I have a few of these Americanized Asian dishes and I love them. Tender chicken, breaded and fried until just crispy and then baked  to coat each piece in a delicious, sticky sauce. Served with sticky rice and steamed broccoli, this meal tastes far superior to take out.

It's a bit involved, however -- cutting up, coating and then frying the chicken before baking it for an hour. But after tasting it, I'm sure you'll forgive me.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Serves 4 - 6

Total Time: About 2 hours

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup ketchup

1/4 cup white vinegar

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1 T. soy sauce

1 tsp. garlic salt

3 - 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 to 1 1/2 cups cornstarch

3 beaten eggs

1/4 cup vegetable oil

Start by prepping your ingredients.

Stir together the sugar, ketchup, vinegars, soy sauce and garlic salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Beat your eggs in a small bowl. Set aside

You might need 3 eggs, or you might need 4. I roughly guess one egg per chicken breast. 

Start with 3, you can always add another if you end up needing it.

Measure cornstarch into another small bowl. 

Once again, I start with a cup of cornstarch and add more if I end up needing it. 

I hate throwing ingredients away!

Cut your chicken breasts into small bite-sized pieces and season with salt and pepper.

Now that everything is mise en place, you are ready to get on with the recipe!

Heat oil in large, nonstick sauté pan over high heat. 

You can tell if your oil is hot enough by dropping a little bit of water into it. 

If it sizzles, then it's ready!

Coat the chicken pieces in the cornstarch.

And then dip in the egg, coating both sides.

Place coated chicken pieces in the hot oil and fry on one side until golden brown, 2 - 3 minutes.

Flip and fry on the other side until golden, another 2 - 3 minutes. 

You will probably have to do this in more than one batch. 

And you may need to add more oil for the second batch. 

Place fried chicken pieces in a large casserole dish. 

Pour in the sweet and sour sauce that you made earlier and toss to coat.

Bake for 1 hour at 325 degrees, stirring every 15 minutes to coat the chicken with the sauce. 

Serve over rice. 

This recipe is from The Recipe Critic, who adapted it from Six Sisters' Stuff.