Sweet and Sour Chicken Recipe — Crispy Chinese-American Classic

About This Recipe

Sweet and sour chicken is one of the most recognisable Chinese-American dishes — crispy battered chicken pieces tossed in a vibrant sauce of pineapple juice, rice vinegar, ketchup and brown sugar. The key is frying the chicken twice for maximum crispiness and tossing it in the sauce at the very last moment so it stays crunchy.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 600 gchicken breast(cut into 3cm chunks)
• 80 gcornstarch
• 2eggs(beaten)
• 1 litrevegetable oil(for frying)
• 1red pepper(cut into chunks)
• 1green pepper(cut into chunks)
• 200 gpineapple chunks(tinned, with 80ml juice reserved)
• 3 tbspketchup
• 3 tbsprice vinegar
• 2 tbspbrown sugar
• 1 tbspsoy sauce
• 1 tbspcornstarch(mixed with 2 tbsp water, for sauce)

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the sauce

   Combine pineapple juice, ketchup, rice vinegar, brown sugar and soy sauce in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer. Add cornstarch slurry and stir until thick and glossy. Set aside.

2. 2

   Coat the chicken

   Season chicken with salt. Dip in beaten egg, then coat in cornstarch, pressing to adhere.

3. 3

   Double-fry the chicken

   Heat oil to 175°C. Fry chicken in batches for 4 minutes — the coating should be set but pale. Drain. Increase oil to 190°C and fry again for 2 minutes until golden and very crispy.

   Double frying is the secret to takeaway-style crispiness that holds up in the sauce.

4. 4

   Stir-fry and toss

   Stir-fry peppers in 1 tbsp oil for 2 minutes. Add pineapple, then the fried chicken. Pour over the sauce and toss quickly — serve immediately so the coating stays crispy.

Variations

• •

  With prawns: replace chicken with large prawns for a lighter version.

• •

  Sweet and sour pork: use pork tenderloin cut into chunks — the traditional version in China.

Storage

Best eaten immediately — the coating softens in the sauce. Leftovers keep 2 days but the chicken loses crispiness.

Frequently Asked Questions