The times when Asian dishes seemed too exotic to our compatriots were long over. Today, by contrast, they are particularly popular. They are valued for an unusual, difficult to convey combination of flavors: sour, sweet, spicy, salty. Having visited the Middle Kingdom, many tourists are unable to forget some of the dishes of Chinese cuisine, including chicken. However, in order to re-enjoy the taste of chicken in Chinese in sweet and sour sauce, you do not need to go to Beijing or visit a Chinese restaurant. Knowing a few subtleties of technology and finding a suitable recipe, any hostess will cope with the preparation of this dish.
Cooking Features
It is difficult to argue with the fact that Chinese chicken in sweet and sour sauce is a unique dish, which has an original taste and appearance. It is clear that it is difficult to cook it similar to the original, if you do not know exactly how to do it. The technology of cooking has specific features, but at the same time is not particularly difficult. The main thing - to know a few of the most important moments.
- Sweet and sour sauce is one of the main components of the dish. It is made from different products, some of which give sourness, others - sweet taste, and others - flavor. And the taste of the sauce depends on the unique combination of these products in a specific ratio. If you break the proportions, the sauce may still get tasty, but different. Therefore, the recipe is desirable to comply with exactly.
- A dish made from fresh or chilled chicken will be more juicy than that prepared from frozen foods. The fact is that when defrosting meat its structure is broken, and it loses some of the moisture. This is especially noticeable if the meat was thawed in a sharp change in temperature, that is, it thawed in water or a microwave. Therefore, in the event that you have no choice between fresh and frozen chicken, and you have to use the latter, it should be allowed to thaw in the refrigerator. Only in this case, the chicken pieces will remain juicy enough to cook them in a sweet and sour sauce in Chinese.
- In order for the chicken to remain juicy in Chinese, another trick is used: fry the pieces over high heat. In seconds, they are covered with a golden crust, which prevents the loss of juice.
- Chicken and sauce are first prepared separately, and then connected and made ready.
- If you want to cook Chinese chicken properly, you must marinate it before cooking. For the marinade most often used soy sauce. Chicken pieces should lie in it for at least 20 minutes.
Traditionally, Chinese chicken is cooked in a special frying pan called a wok. But just as well you can use a conventional griddle. Moreover, it is possible to cook chicken in Chinese at all without a frying pan if you use the slow cooker.
Chinese Eggplant Chicken
Composition:
- chicken fillet - 0, 8 kg;
- garlic - 1 clove;
- ginger root - 3-4 cm;
- red pepper - a pinch;
- eggplants - 0, 8 kg;
- soy sauce - 60 ml;
- wine vinegar (3 percent) - 60 ml;
- water - 60 ml;
- flour - 20 g;
- sesame seeds - 10 g;
- vegetable oil - how much will leave.
Method of preparation:
- Wash the chicken fillet, pat dry with napkins and cut into thin long strips, like meat for stroganoff.
- Mix the vinegar and soy sauce.
- Peel and rub the ginger.
- Finely chop the garlic clove with a knife.
- Add sugar, flour and pepper to the vinegar-soy mixture. Stir until a homogeneous sauce is obtained.
- Marinate chicken fillet in the resulting sauce.
- After half an hour, remove the chicken from the marinade, let the excess liquid drain.
- Heat the butter in a frying pan and fry the chicken pieces in it for 10 minutes. Remove from pan.
- Peel and cut the eggplants into small pieces. Dip them in salted water for 20 minutes (take approximately 10 g of salt per liter of water). Rinse in running water and dry.
- Put the eggplants in the pan with the butter, put it on low heat. Add ginger and garlic.
- Fry the eggplants, stirring for 5 minutes, then add a little water and extinguish the blue ones until the water evaporates.
- Combine the chicken with the eggplants, pour in the sauce, in which the chicken pieces were marinated.
- Stew for 10-15 minutes. The sauce will thicken by this time.
Chicken is served in a sweet and sour sauce with hot eggplants. However, cooled down, it still remains delicious. Garnish for this dish is not required.
Chinese Chicken with Pineapples
Composition:
- chicken breast fillet - 0, 8 kg;
- canned pineapples - 0, 3 kg;
- Bulgarian pepper - 0, 4 kg;
- cane sugar - 50 g;
- corn starch (can be replaced with potato starch) - 100 g;
- granulated garlic - 5 g;
- dry chopped ginger root - 10 g;
- peanuts (peeled, roasted) - 50 g;
- sesame seeds - 20 g;
- vegetable oil - 0, 25 l;
- apple cider vinegar (6 percent) - 40 ml;
- lemon juice - 10 ml;
- ketchup - 50 ml;
- soy sauce - 40 ml.
Method of preparation:
- Wash and dry the chicken breast fillet. Cut into cubes and a half centimeters.
- Mix chicken with soy sauce. Cover the container with it with cling film and put in the fridge for 2 hours.
- Pepper wash. Remove the seeds by removing the stem. Cut into small square pieces.
- Open a jar of pineapples, pour the syrup into a clean bowl. Chop the pineapple itself - the cubes should be no more than 1 cm.
- Crush peanuts.
- Remove the pickled chicken from the sauce and place in a plastic bag. Put the starch in the bag. Shake the bag so that the chicken is covered in starch.
- In a saucepan, heat about 0, 2 liters of oil. When it boils, put chicken cubes in it and fry them in deep fat. As long as they do not lightly browned.
- Take the chicken out of the saucepan and place the excess fat on the napkins.
- Heat the remaining oil in a clean skillet. Put pieces of bell pepper in it and fry them for 5 minutes over medium heat.
- Reduce heat and place pineapple slices near the pepper. Pour in pineapple syrup and vinegar. Stew in a sweet and sour sauce pepper and pineapple for 10 minutes.
- Add garlic and ginger. Pour in ketchup and lemon juice, as well as soy sauce, in which the chicken was marinated. Pour cane sugar. Put out another 5 minutes.
- Put the chicken pieces in the sauce, mix. Cook the chicken in a sweet and sour sauce for another 5 minutes.
Before serving the dish should be sprinkled with sesame seeds and crushed peanuts. This chicken recipe in Chinese belongs to the classic. If the sauce seems too sour or, on the contrary, too sweet, you can, accordingly, reduce the amount of sugar or vinegar.
Chicken in a sweet and sour sauce with apples in a slow cooker
Composition:
- chicken fillet - 0, 4 kg;
- sour apples (peeled) - 0, 2 kg;
- tomato paste - 20 ml;
- water - 50 ml;
- honey - 20 ml;
- mustard - 20 ml;
- soy sauce - 20 ml;
- vegetable oil - 40 ml.
Method of preparation:
- Chicken fillet, rinse, blot with a kitchen towel. Cut it into cubes of about 1 cm.
- Mix honey, mustard, soy sauce, tomato paste and water.
- Fill the marinade with chicken pieces and leave them to marinate for an hour in a cool place.
- Wash the apples, cut the core. Slice the apple pulp into the same size as the chicken fillet.
- Pour oil into the multicooker bowl. Start the unit in cooking or baking mode.
- Put the chicken in the multicooker bowl, fry it for 15 minutes, stirring it.
- Turn off the multicooker. Add apple pieces to chicken meat. Pour all this sauce, which was pickled chicken.
- Turn on the multicooker by selecting the extinguishing program. Cook in this mode for 20 minutes.
Cooking Chinese chicken in a slow cooker is a snap. The recipe of this dish does not include exotic ingredients. Apples, tomato paste and honey add sweet and sour taste to the sauce, and mustard makes the taste of the dish even more savory. To make the dish more tender, the apple can be pre-peeled.
Chicken in sweet and sour sauce with fresh tomatoes
Composition:
- chicken fillet - 0, 8 kg;
- Bulgarian pepper - 0, 25 kg;
- onions - 0, 2 kg;
- fresh tomatoes - 0, 3 kg;
- garlic - 4 cloves;
- honey - 20 ml;
- curry seasoning - 10 g;
- soy sauce - 40 ml;
- vegetable oil - how much will leave.
Method of preparation:
- Chicken fillet, washed and dried with napkins, cut into strips.
- Wash Bulgarian pepper, cut the stem, remove the seeds. Cut the pepper lengthwise into 4 pieces and cut it into quarters of rings.
- Wash tomatoes. On each make a sharp knife two notches crosswise. Boil the water. Dip the tomatoes in boiling water and blanch them for 2 minutes. Transfer the tomatoes using a skimmer in a pan with cold water. After a couple of minutes, when the tomatoes have cooled, remove them from the water and clean them. Cut the seal around the stalk and cut the flesh into small cubes.
- Remove the husks from the bulbs, cut them into thin quarters of rings or half rings, if they are small.
- Cut the garlic with a knife into small pieces.
- Melt the honey and mix it with the soy sauce.
- Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan and put onion and garlic in it. Fry them on medium heat for 2-3 minutes, then place the chicken in the pan.
- Fry the chicken fillet slices for 10 minutes, first over medium heat, then less intense. Add pepper and continue frying for another 5 minutes.
- Put the tomatoes, pour the juice, which of them stood out, mix. Simmer chicken with tomatoes for 10 minutes.
- Add the soy sauce with honey, curry seasoning, stir. Continue cooking for another 10 minutes.
To the chicken in Chinese, cooked according to this recipe, will not interfere with the garnish. It can be rice or potatoes.
Chicken in a sweet and sour sauce - one of the popular dishes of Chinese cuisine. It is usually served hot with a side dish. Traditional garnish is rice. However, there are other options. For example, if a chicken was prepared in Chinese with the addition of a significant amount of vegetables, a side dish is not required. Chicken in Chinese, cooked according to recipes adapted to the taste of our fellow countrymen, can be served with potatoes or pasta.
