Easy Sweet and Sour Chicken



INGREDIENTS:

1 lb Chicken breast, boneless

1 t  ginger, chopped

1  Egg white

1/2 t  salt 

2 t  Cornstarch

1/2 c  Vegetable oil (peanut oil is best,
but sunflower is good, too)

1 Green (bell) pepper

6 carrots

12 oz Pineapple chunks, canned
(drained, but reserve about 1/2 cup of the juice)

Sauce:

2 t  sherry

2 t  Light soy sauce

1 T  Vinegar

1 t  sugar 

1 T  Cornstarch

1 t  salt

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cut up the chicken into bite-sized chunks. Combine ginger,
egg white, about 1/2 teaspoons each salt and cornstarch, and
about 1 teaspoon oil. Add the chicken chunks and stir until
the chicken is well-coated.
  
2. Wash green pepper. Discard seeds and stem. Cut into strips
about 1 x 1/4 inches.  Peel carrots.  If they are thick, cut
in half lengthwise.  Cut diagonally into pieces about 1 inch
long.  Cook the carrots in boiling water for 3-5 minutes,
depending how crunchy you like your carrots.
  
3. Drain pineapple chunks, saving about 1/2 cup of the juice.
Prepare the sweet and sour sauce by mixing sherry, soy sauce,
vinegar, sugar, reserved pineapple juice, about 1 tablespoon
cornstarch, and about 1 teaspoon salt. Stir well and set aside.
  
4. Heat about 3 tablespoon of oil very hot in a wok or deep
cast iron pan. Peanut oil is best since it has a high smoking
point.  Stir-fry the chicken by putting a small batch (e.g., 5
pieces) of the cubed chicken in the wok and stirring continuously
until golden brown. Remove to a dish. Repeat until all the
chicken has been cooked, adding small amounts of oil as it gets
used up.
  
5. Heat about 1 tablespoon oil in an empty wok.  Stir fry the
parboiled carrots and the green pepper for 30 seconds. Add the
chicken and the pineapple chunks to the vegetables in the wok.
Stir 1 minute or until well mixed and reheated. Add sweet and
sour sauce to wok. Stir until thickened.
  
6. Serve with rice.  I serve this recipe to company all the time
and am amazed at how many people don't realize that you can cook
Chinese food at home. It is always a big hit. The recipe works
equally well with lean pork, tofu cubes, or soy beans instead of
the chicken.



Easy Sweet and Sour Chicken