Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Chinese: Take Out Fake Out

I was originally going to make stir-fry this evening but then decided I wanted to make something new. I was browsing through the starred items in my google reader and came across this recipe for sweet and sour chicken. I had the recipe starred twice from two different blogs and decided it was a sign that I needed to make this for dinner.


The process of making this was pretty easy. Coat and pan fry the chicken then put it into a baking dish, cover it with sauce and let the oven do the rest of the work. Since I am feeding only my husband and myself I used one large chicken breast and made one batch of the sauce, pouring half into the baking dish and thickening the other half on the stove with some red pepper flakes for a bit of added heat. I will definitely be making this dish again, it was so easy and virtually foolproof with an awesome taste.


I served this chicken over rice with stir-fried vegetables (carrots, broccoli, water chestnuts, and garlic chips) on the side.


Sweet and Sour Chicken
As seen on
Mrs. Sac's Purple Kitchen and Cooking This and That originally from Taste and Tell

-Makes 4 servings -

Chicken Ingredients
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil

Directions
Cut boneless chicken breasts into chunks. Season with salt and pepper.
Dip chicken in cornstarch and then in egg. Fry in a little oil until brown but not cooked through. Place in a single layer in a baking dish. Mix sauce ingredients (below) together and pour over chicken.

Sauce Ingredients
¾ cup sugar
4 tablespoons ketchup
½ cup vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic salt

Directions
Bake for one hour at 325 degrees. Turn chicken every 15 minutes. If you like extra sauce, make another batch of sauce and bring it to a boil on the stove top. Stir constantly and let cook over medium heat until thickened and reduced - about 6-8 minutes.

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

YUM! This look so good! And the plating is lovely!!

Anonymous said...

This sounds fabulous, I can't wait to try it. And your pictures are to-die-for gorgeous!

Par said...

Sure looks good.

Shauna said...

That looks delicious! I will definitely give this recipe a try. Your pics look amazing too!

Colleen said...

That's quite a citing list you have there for where this came from lol! But it just shows that this recipe IS great - I am glad you enjoyed it as much as we did!

Spryte said...

That looks soooo good!!!

Michele said...

Looks great! Seems like there was quite a few of us with stir fry on the brain this week. :-)

Carrie said...

YUM! Looks and sounds awesome!

Rachel said...

I'd like to make that inspired by the tempting pic.

Bob said...

That looks mad good. I love sweet and sour, but have never tried to make coated/fried stuff before. I will have to try this way, it looks nice and simple.

notyet100 said...

yumm,...:-)

What's Cookin Chicago said...

Looks great and I love your pics!

Kira said...

I've been meaning to make this too. Looks delicious!

Mary Ellen said...

Looks great! We don't have any good Chinese restaurants around us so I love making copycat take-out meals at home.

Anonymous said...

I love sweet and sour chicken! I will have to try this recipe... I have a new wok that I'm dying to experiment with.

That Girl said...

As much as I love TJ's orange chicken, this looks way better.

giz said...

This kind of easy and delicious always makes me happy. Looks just wonderful.

One Particular Kitchen said...

I asked this at Mrs Sac's too... it's on the menu for tonight! :) Quick question - how small did you cut the chicken? An hour seems like a long time to bake bite-size pieces, so I'm guessing bigger than that.
Thanks!

~Amber~ said...

One Particular Kitchen

I cut the chicken into bite sized pieces. The reason why it cooks for an hour is to thicken the sauce. You can reduce the time but the sauce may not be all the way thickened. Enjoy the dish.

Memória said...

O-M-G! these were so good! I just made them for dinner today, and I keep stealing another bite here and there. Since I live alone, I made half of the recipe, and I still have a lot of chicken leftover. I hope they last until tomorrow! haha Thanks for posting this recipe :).

Michelle said...

I made this for dinner tonight and it was AWESOME! Everyone loved it!

Melissa said...

This is a staple in our house now...I can never get sick of it!

Rachel L said...

Had the spontaneous urge to make sweet and sour chicken with none of the traditional ingredients. When I found this recipe i was curious but skeptical because of how simple it was. However, after making it I'd have to say it's a keeper! The taste was wonderful, very sweet, tangy, and "authentic". Such a great recipe for when I'm craving Chinese but not wanting to go buy it. Thanks so much!

Wendi said...

I found the recipe at Brown Eyed Baker which led me here. Sweet and Sour Chicken was incredible. I can't wait to make it again.

Anonymous said...

Hi there,
I tried your recipe last night for the special family weekday, it was a complete success. For newbies in the cooking trade you might add the detail that the egg yolk and egg white have to be slightly whipped so that they blend into each other...I am ashamed to admit I did not know that and called my Mum for the advice. Well after all, my compliments for the recipe, following the instructions it looked exactly like on your picture - a rare event in cooking and baking I'd say.

Kristen Crouse said...

I stumbled across this while looking at some other recipes, and I plan on making it this evening. I could have sworn I saw a total cook time, but now I'm not seeing it! Is it for an hour after going into the oven? It looks awesome and I can't wait to try it! :)