Sweet-and-sour chicken
Yield: 4 Servings
Ingredients:
- 3/4 lb Chicken breast - skinless boneless
- 1 tb Rice wine or dry sherry
- 1 tb Light soy sauce
- 1/2 ts Salt
- 1 sm Green bell pepper
- 1 sm Red bell pepper
- 1 Carrot
- 2 Scallions
- 1 Egg; beaten
- 2 tb Cornstarch
- 2 c Oil preferably peanut
- 3 oz Canned lychees; drained -OR-
- 1 -fresh orange in segments MMMMM---------------------------SAUCE--------------------------------
- 2/3 c Chicken stock
- 1 tb Light soy sauce
- 1/2 ts Salt
- 1 1/2 tb Chinese white rice vinegar -=OR=- Cider vinegar
- 1 tb Sugar
- 1 tb Tomato paste
- 1 ts Cornstarch
- 1 ts Water CUT THE CHICKEN INTO 1-INCH cubes. Put the cubes into a bowl together with the rice wine or sherry
- 1 tablespoon of light soy sauce and 1/2
Instructions:
teaspoon salt and marinate for 20 minutes. Meanwhile cut the green and red peppers into 1-inch squares. Peel and cut the carrots and scallions into 1-inch chunks. (The uniform size of meat and vegetables adds to the visual appeal of the dish.) Bring a pot of water to a boil and blanch the carrots in it for 4 minutes then drain and set aside. Mix the egg and cornstarch in a bowl until they are well blended into a batter. Lift the chicken cubes out of the marinade put them into a batter and coat each piece well. Heat the oil in a deep-fat fryer or large wok until it is almost smoking. Remove the chicken pieces from the batter with a slotted spoon and deep-fry them. Drain the deep-fried chicken cubes on paper towels. TO MAKE THE SAUCE: Combine the chicken stock soy sauce salt vinegar sugar and tomato paste in a large saucepan. Bring it to a boil. Add all the vegetables but not the lychees or oranges and stir well. In a small bowl blend together the cornstarch and water. Stir this mixture into the sauce and bring it back to a boil. Turn the heat down to a simmer. Add the lychees or oranges and chicken cubes. Mix well then turn the mixture onto a deep platter. Serve at once.
