Sweet & Sour Chicken - The Recipe
A go-to Chinese takeaway pick, for good reason... crispy nuggets of chicken coated in a sweet, tangy sauce. YUM! This newsletter includes my recipe for this, which is healthier, cheaper and tastier...
Sweet and sour chicken is a firm favourite amongst Brits, as I am sure it is worldwide too. I could guarantee you that within 99% Chinese takeaway orders, this dish always manages to find its way in there. How could you not love a sweet, tangy sauce coating crisp nuggets of chicken?! The recipe below shows you how to make it in the comfort of your own kitchen, whilst being cheaper than ordering and, dare I say it, far tastier and fresher.
A standout of this dish is how wonderfully tender and juicy the chicken stays, even after frying until the exterior is a deep golden brown and crisp. Often, when you fry smaller pieces of chicken, they can easily overcook and become tough, chewy and dry…
How do we do this? Using a Chinese cooking technique called ‘velveting’, we are able to tenderise the chicken to the point where it stays very soft, even with extended cook times. This isn’t a science page, so I’ll try and keep it quick, although I could very happily talk about this sort of stuff for days. Hey after all, cooking is science, therefore understanding how everything works, makes the whole process 10x easier! It will also turn you into a far more intuitive home cook… In this recipe, the alkalinity of the bicarbonate of soda breaks down the proteins in the meat, which completely denatures them. When you cook meats, the muscle fibres tense and seize up, however this technique stop this from happening because the fibres have been broken down, which is an irreversible change, in turn ensuring soft meat every single time. In addition to the bicarbonate of soda, the cornflour creates a barrier to moisture escaping chicken. Similar to rice flour and potato starch, cornflour has an inability to absorb much water, therefore makes it the perfect ingredient for velveting, and for achieving crisp coatings too. Ever wondered why the meat in your local Chinese takeaway tastes so juicy and tender, but when you try to do it yourself at home the meat always ends up tough? Velveting is the exact reasoning for this, and is perfect solution to preventing tough meat. This can applied across all other kinds of meat and seafood too!
Key Ingredients:
Chicken Thighs - The premium pick when it comes to flavour and juiciness. I don’t know if this is the case in the rest of the world, but in the UK, chicken thighs are cheaper than chicken breasts (they actually have been for a while). This is a win win in my eyes! You can of course use chicken breast as an alternative though if you’d prefer.
Cornflour (aka corn starch) - As mentioned above, this is necessary for both the velveting process and the crisp exterior. Alternatives: rice flour or potato starch.
Red Bell Peppers - Every sweet and sour dish should have a fruit or vegetable in it of some sorts. A classic, of which we will be using here, is the red bell pepper which adds a subtle sweet, freshness. It wouldn’t be a sweet and sour chicken without! Pineapple is another classic, however I prefer mine without. This is merely a choice therefore if you have one had, definitely add some cubes of this into the sauce too! Alternatives / Additions: Yellow or orange bell peppers, water chestnuts, pineapple, sugar snaps
Bicarbonate of Soda - As explained in the intro, this is a must if you want to have tender and juicy chicken. There isn’t an alternative to bicarbonate of soda that I would be able to recommend, therefore if you can’t get it, you can omit it, however be cautious that your chicken may end up a little more chewy.
Let’s move onto the delicious recipe and show you how to make this…