Chicken with Vegetables in Sour-sweet Sauce

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Personally, I’m very fond of Asian cuisine. Mostly, because of their ability to cook rich flavored dishes with minimum ingredients. And this chicken in a sour-sweet sauce, not an exception.

Here we have some battered chicken, fast fried vegetables, and as you see, sour-sweet sauce. Thanks to fast high-heat processing, vegetables remain all the vitamins, taste, and flavor.

Who doesn’t like the sour-sweet taste? Right, nobody. This is, you might say, classic, easy to cook Chinese sauce everybody likes.

The main reason for such appreciation, I guess, is that it can unbelievably change the taste. The sour and sweet contrast gives that very pinch, everybody likes it for. Sugar enhances the taste and sourness increases salivation so the brain gets the signal: “Come on, eat more”. And here you are in the vicious circle, and you can’t get out until the plate is empty.

⏱ Cooking time — 5 hours 10 minutes overall. Includes 25 minutes of preparation and cooking + 4 hours 45 minutes unattended.

🔪 Ingredients

For 1 servings:

For chicken and vegetables:

• 2 chicken thighs or 1 breast (total weight for about 300 g) (don’t have? check for chicken breast substitutes)
• 1 egg
• 50 g (1,8 oz) ginger
• 30 g (1 oz) cornstarch
• ½ onion
• 1 sweet pepper
• 150-200 ml (0,6-1 cups) of frying oil (may need more, depending on the cookware)
• Salt, pepper

For sauce:

• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 60 ml (4 tbsp) of chicken broth
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
• Salt
• 1.5 tsp brown sugar

Equipment:

Wok (not necessary )

🥣 Directions

I’d like to mention that this amount of ingredients is good for one serving or for 2 with a side dish.

First, you need to take off the rind and slice the meat (300 g (10,6 oz)) on 3 cm in length and 1 cm wide pieces. Put in the bowl.

Peel a finger-sized piece of ginger (25 g (0,9 oz)) and grate it.

Separate the egg white from the yolk.

Add the egg white, grated ginger and ½ tsp of salt to the bowl with chicken, mix and leave for 30 minutes.

While the meat is marinating, let’s cook the sauce.

Mix 2 tbsp of tomato paste, 75 ml (5 tbsp) of chicken broth, 2 tbsp of rice wine vinegar, 2 tbsp of orange juice (squeeze the orange), ½ tsp of salt and 1.5 tbsp of brown sugar (you can replace it with white one). With this amount of sugar, the dish won’t be very sweet, but that is a traditional Chinese proportion. Although, if you’re really a sweet tooth person, add more.

Mix until the sugar/salt completely melts, put aside.

Now vegetables.

1 onion cut “from a pole to pole”, by the way, as for me, this method is more suitable for the stir-frying technique.

Dice 1 pepper. I took 2 halves from 2 different-colored, you, on the other hand, can use one, or follow my example and use 2, that’s even more beautiful.

To dice the pepper, firstly cut it in half. Then cut off the even pieces, but try not to touch the inner part.

Slice them and then dice.

Do the same with the rest of the pepper.

Grate one more piece of ginger (25 g (0,9oz)) as before.

That’s all with preparation. Now let’s cook.

Pour the oil (150- 200 ml (0,6-1 cups)) into a wok and put on the high-heat. There should be enough oil to cover the chicken pieces in half. Add 30 g (1 oz) of cornstarch to the chicken and mix. Put them to the wok one by one and don’t turn up until golden. Then turn up the pieces and fry from the other side.

Using the spatula, put the chicken into a clean bowl. If some of them are stuck together, just separate them with a spatula.

Pour the oil out of the wok but leave for about 1 tbsp.

Add pepper and onion, fry for 1 minute while stirring, add ginger and cook for another minute while stirring.

Put the vegetables together in the wok or frying pan, and pour a sauce in there. The sauce needs to be warm when mixed with vegetables, so try to pour it on the walls first.

Mix everything, add a chicken, mix one more time, and serve right away while they’re still crispy.

🙋‍♂️ FAQ