Sweet & Sour Chicken

Probably my second favorite thing about Chinese take out is the sweet and sour chicken, of course as noted earlier in this blog - egg fried rice comes first, always! However, there's something so delightful about pineapples and chicken that I just love. Now I will warn you that normally I kinda just don't LOVE veggies; however, they've started to grow on me and with the next 9 months on watch I have to make an extra effort to eat them however I can stand them. This dish is fabulous for getting some veggies that you might not normally use without really even tasting their 'veggie-ness' so to speak haha. I will also warn you that with the pineapple and the juice it is incredibly sweet - but oh so delicious. So if you like pineapples and don't mind spending about a half hour in the kitchen this dish is fabulous....

Recipe:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 boneless chicken breasts, cubed

Salt and pepper

1/2 cup chopped red pepper

1/2 cup chopped green pepper

4 teaspoons cornstarch, mixed with 4 teaspoons water

1 cup canned pineapple chunks, drained with 1/2 cup reserved juice

3 tablespoons brown sugar

3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

1/4 cup chicken stock

Directions:

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper and cook in the oil until browned. Set the chicken aside on a paper towel lined plate to absorb the extra oil. Using the same pan, add the red and green peppers and cook for 2-3 minutes (you want them to still have a bite to them, don’t overcook them). Stir in the pineapple chunks, juice, sugar, vinegar and chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Simmer until sauce begins to reduce (warning: this can take a good 15 minutes or so – it’s important to reduce the liquid because it’ll prevent your dish from being too soupy!) Stir in the cornstarch mixture and bring the liquid to a simmer. Stir in the chicken and cook for about 5 minutes. Serve over rice or just as is.

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