Pinteresting Monday: Sweet and Sour Chicken

So, I have decided to start a series of posts on recipes and possibly other crafts, tips, tricks, etc. that I have found on Pinterest. I am going to try these various things and let you know how they turn out...keep in mind that as I said in my initial post, I have no discernible talent. So, as with most things, this will be me stumbling my way through.

Over the weekend, I attempted to make sweet and sour chicken from a recipe that I found on Pinterest. I guess that this is an Asian inspired dish.  I will say that it turned out pretty good...it wasn't great but it was good. I sorta overlooked the chicken a little...just a little, so it was still edible ;)

If you click on the highlighted "recipe" above, it will take you to the original recipe. You may want to look at this (don't just rely on me) if you are planning to make this recipe.

So, let's get started. On Pinterest, this receipe is called sweet and sour chicken but being a connessour of Chinese takeout, I think that it is more of a General Tso Chicken or Grandfather Chicken rather than sweet and sour chicken.  This is a picture of what the end result looked like on Pinterest and if you scroll to the bottom of this post, you will see how my chicken turned out.



looks pretty tasty

What you will need (taken from the original recipe):

Chicken Breading
3 -5 Boneless, skinless, chicken breast
1 cup of cornstarch
2 eggs (beaten)
1/3 cup of canola oil (I used peanut oil because strangely this is all I had on hand)
Salt and Pepper (I would also add garlic powder, onion powder, and any other seasoning that you find tasty)

Sauce
3/4 cup of sugar* (you may be able to substitute splenda or some other sweetener to make it healthy. I just used plain ol' unhealthy white sugar)
4 tablespoons ketchup*
1/2 cup white distilled vinegar (I used organic apple cider vinegar because again this is all I had but I will admit that ACV definitely gives the sauce a kick)
1 tablespoon soy sauce*
1 teaspoon garlic salt*

*For full disclosure, I did play around with these measurements. I added these ingredients based on taste. Also, since I used ACV, which has a stronger taste than white vinegar, I had to increase the ketchup, soy sauce and sugar slightly. I implore you to start with the measurements listed and then add or subtract based on your taste buds.

Now, make sure to thoroughly wash your chicken, removing most (if not all) of the fat and the slimy stuff. Then pat the chicken dry and cut it into bite size pieces. Season the chicken chunks with the salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and any of your other favorite seasonings (keep in mind that you are also adding a sauce to this chicken so don't over season). Now is a good time to preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Heat your oil in a skillet/frying pan. Make sure that the oil is hot but do not burn the oil. I didn't let my pan get hot enough when I was browning the chicken and it didn't really brown appropriately (and nothing is better than golden brown nuggets of chicken). So, I kinda messed up this step. While your oil is warming up, completely coat your chicken with cornstarch and then dip it into the eggs (which you have already beaten). After removing the chicken from the egg mixture, brown it in the frying pan. Once brown, remove the chicken and place it in a baking dish and set aside.

On to the sauce. In a small bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients that I listed above for the sauce (modify for your taste as necessary). Once you have a good combination, pour the sauce over the chicken in the baking dish. Try to distribute the sauce evenly and turn the chicken to make sure that both sides are covered. Don't worry if the sauce is runny, it will thicken as is cooks. Bake the chicken at 350 for 15 minutes  and then turn the chicken and bake for an additional 15 minutes (we want to make sure that both sides get nice and gooey). Voila! You should have tasty chicken piece.

Now, let me tell you what I did wrong. Well first, I overcooked my chicken because since it wasn't browning, I let it in the frying pan too long in an attempt to get it to brown. It was probably already fully cooked when I put it into the oven and consequently, overcooked it. It was still edible though!

Since this was an Asian inspired dish, I decided to pair my chicken with fried rice but because I try to keep it a little healthy (don't let the fried, sugary chicken fool ya), I decided to make brown fried rice. This was not a Pinterest recipe. If you are interested in my brown fried rice, here it goes.


I should start by saying that I am notoriously bad at making rice unless it is an Uncle Ben's package. Uncle Ben does make boil bags for brown rice but I decided to do this the old fashioned way using the 2:1 ratio.

What you will need:

1 cup of brown nice
olive oil
soy sauce
1 large egg
scallions
minced garlic
Bean sprouts* (I didn't have bean sprouts but I think that they would have made the dish better)

* You can also put peas, peppers, broccoli or any other vegetable that you desire in this rice. Don't be afraid to experiment. It may suck but at least you won't do it again next time.

First boil 2 cups of water (add a little salt to the water, just a dash). Once the water starts to boil, add in the rice. Basically make the rice according to the package. I messed up here because I boiled the water too long and then I added the rice but after about 10 minutes all the water boiled out of the pot. I had to add more water...and then 10 minutes later all of the water was gone again and I had to add more water again. Finally, I was able to get the rice to cook and luckily the rice did not scorch. If you scorch or burn your rice, I think you have to throw it away and start over because it tastes disgusting.

Heat some olive oil in a skillet, You do not need a lot, just enough to get a nice coat on the bottom of the pan. add in your minced garlic, scallions, bean sprouts and any other veggies that you have chosen. You will need to saute these veggies but do not over cook them. You still want them to have a little firmness. Once finished, set it aside

In a separate skillet, you will need to scramble the egg and set it aside.

Now in the same skillet where you have browned your veggies, pour in your cooked rice and fry it. You may find that you need to add a little more olive oil. Try to brown the rice on a medium/low heat for about 15 minutes or so (or however long looks right to you). As you are browning the rice, you want to mix in the sauteed veggies and the scrambled egg. When you are done, transfer the rice mixture to a large bowl, sprinkle soy sauce to taste and serve.

Lastly, I finished this Asian inspired meal with steamed broccoli (because this is how it always comes from the Chinese restaurant)

So here you have it, Chinese inspired sweet and sour chicken/General Tso Chicken. If you decide to try this recipe, please let me know how it turns out.  Here is a picture of my complete meal and another link to the recipe.