Did They Eat It: Sweet and Sour Chicken

I grabbed this recipe from Elise Bauer's great Simply Recipes site while I was at the grocery store deciding what to make for dinner. I take a (humorous, loving) beating from my friends and family because of my (really unbecoming) dependence on my phone. But this iPhone is a life saver in so many ways. One way being that I can be as flaky as I am and still buy the correct ingredients for dinner.

Maddie likes very few things and sauces make her fly into a wild rage, WHY DO I HAVE TO RUIN EVERYTHING WITH SAUCE!? But this Sweet and Sour Chicken has chicken, she likes, pineapple, she likes, and the sauce is like a punched up ketchup so I decided to risk it.

Here is everything you need, except an egg and the chicken that I forgot in the fridge.

To prepare the chicken mix the egg white with the cornstarch and mix it all up. Look what I did, I stuck my hand in it and that's making me feel ill today.

Wash your hand, really well, then stick the chicken in the fridge for 15 minutes, or covered overnight even. I don't plan that far ahead so I went with the 15 minute option. While that's in fridge, contemplating its fate, chop up your peppers.

I love to chop things in front of Logan because Logan is convinced I will slice my fingers off at any given moment. As he took this picture he said, "I want you to share this picture so everyone can see why I'm so terrified of you cutting things."

Are you terrified? Pat Logan on the back and tell him he's going to have to calm down, try yoga maybe and then make the sauce.

Take 1/4 cup of the pineapple juice reserved from when you drain your pineapple chunks.

Add 1/4 cup of ketchup....

and 1/4 cup vinegar. Logan's grandmother had the craziest way of pronouncing vinegar. I can't even say it because it's so offensive but I'll never forget the fish and chips dinner we ate with her in Rhode Island where she asked me to hand her the vinegar. (Replace the 'i' with an 'a' and the 'e' with an 'i' and you'll understand why I sprayed my water across the entire table.)

Then add 1 - 2 Tablespoons of brown sugar to the sauce, you can play around with the vinegar and the brown sugar to get the right proportions of sweet and sour. I do not have a funny story about the elderly and brown sugar. Unfortunately.

Mix up the sauce, here you see me mixing up the sauce. Whoa, that's a lame picture.

Heat your pan up nice and hot, then add a tablespoon of oil. Put your chicken in the pan and let it sit on one side all spread out like so it sears the outside. After a minute flip it over and do the same on the other side. It will still be pink, but take the chicken out of the pan and set aside.

Add another teaspoon of oil and the chopped peppers and grated fresh ginger to the pan. Let that cook for a minute, then add the pineapple and sweet and sour sauce. Next add the chicken and let everything cook until your chicken is cooked through.

We like to serve ours on rice, but you don't have to.

For the full recipe, please visit Simply Recipes.

Did They Eat It?

Logan: Preemptively asks me not to put so many onions in it. I tell him there are no onions. He's happy!

Madison: Whoa....sauce? Can....be......okay? Must pretend to be nonplussed so my mother doesn't think she won.

Max: Enh. Not a superfan.

Melissa: I liked it too, but it's irritating that we so rarely get a 4 out of 4 approval rating. Maybe some day.

Comments

[Rayne of Terror]

I think my family would really like that. My husband does something similar with mushrooms, dijon, and balsamic vanigir.

[Erica]

That looks amazingly good ... I'm making it tonight with the pork chops that I just set out!!

[Mitzi]

I was just scrolling down through the pictures without reading the text and thought to myself "ooh, she's gonna cut her finger off". Then I read the text and died laughing. I wasn't trying to agree with Logan but its very scary to watch you do that. It looks like you're pressing down so hard and left-handed. I don't know. I'm sure you can handle it though, since you still have 10 fingertips. I have faith.

[ella]

That's looks yummy and easy! My kinda recipe. I love Elise and her Simply Recipe site. I have a binder full of her recipes.
And some of them I have even prepared!

Might make this tonight.

[BonDotts]

Logan's mother must be from the East Bay side of RI. We pronounce it vin-eh-gah.

[aimee]

How critical do you think the fresh ginger is? It is something I never use and don't really want to buy just for this recipe (which looks SO yummy!).

[FunnyGal KAT]

Ooh, this sounds good but, alas, the Pretend Husband will not go for it because-- like Logan and the onions-- he has a huge problem with mixing sweet and savory (he still talks about the long ago Thanksgiving when his day put cranberries! in! the! stuffing!)

And I hate touching raw chicken too, so I dump it in a freezer bag with whatever ingredients it needs to be mixed with and then smoosh everything together from the outside of the bag. Just a thought.

[Allison]

A quick little knife skills tip: don't put your index finger atop the blade. It only creates more resistance, and actually increases your chances of the knife slipping. Instead, "pinch" the knife between your thumb and middle knuckle of your index finger. And, on the hand that's holding the food to be cut, tuck your fingertips under instead of having them flat. If there's a Sur La Table in your area, take their beginner knife skills class. It'll feel weird the first few times you hold your knife correctly, but once you retrain yourself, you'll be amazed at how easier it is (and how fast you'll be able to cut, chop, dice, and mince).

I did find this video online of a chef demonstrating a few different techniques, but at the very least, you can see how he holds his knife. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POi7LQO2OyQ

[Veronica]

You make simple meals look so appetizing. This is a recipe I think I will try, however, can I replace the real chicken with chicken nuggets? (I'm being totally serious)

[MelissaS]

Tip on the fresh ginger that I didn't realize until I'd thrown out about 18 pounds of unused fresh ginger over the last 15 years.

You can break off just the tiniest bit off the root at the market. It's sold by the pound at my market so you can take what you need.

I've also heard that other people freeze their ginger.

[Olly]

Wow! I thought this would be a sure winner with your family having no onions and being sweet. My family would love it although, my daughter would pick out the peppers...

[Kristen]

Nom nom nom, that looks good! Thanks for introducing me to a new website. I can't wait to explore it (ooo, yum, those chocolate mint cupcakes look good too [on the other website]!)!

[Deanna]

Oh, you don't know anything about offensive pronounciations of "Vinegar" unless you grew up in the south.

[Jenn (dish)]

This dish looks yummy and easy--I'll have to try it on my crew.

I had to laugh about the vinegar. My husband's family in RI doesn't say it *that* way (I think they say veeen-a...they're Italian) but his cousins in Toronto (also Italian) made me almost choke when they invited us to visit and see Niagara falls. They say Niagara the same way as Logan's gram says "vinegar" but without the "va." Yeah. And they also talk *really* loudly, so I kept trying to duck under a table. At my wedding.

[Belle]

I'm so glad DID THEY EAT IT? is back!

Ginger: I sometimes buy the ginger in water, in a jar. It's almost as good as fresh and keeps way longer.

[jana]

I laughed out loud when you apologized for not having a humorous story about the elderly and brown sugar.

Also, I keep ginger in the freezer and it lasts up to a year, I've found.

[Joy]

I tried it and they did like it! It was really easy to make and my husband now thinks I'm the culinary artist that he always dreamed about marrying. Even my 10 month old had a few bites before demanding more rice. Thanks for the idea!!!!!!!!

[Amy]

So yummy! Even my very picky 6 y.o. ate the peppers (although still under protest). Thanks for the post.

Made two batches last night -- one chicken and one tofu.

[LizP]

This looks really good! My kids may even eat it!

[Helena]

This looks great! And no onions!! Extra points! :-)

[Kimmers]

I made this last night and loved it! Even my boyfriend (who refused to eat the rice, peppers, or pineapple) loved it just for the chicken and sweet & sour sauce. Will definitely make this again. Thanks for sharing it! :)

[Erica]

Have you ever tried the allrecipes.com iphone app? I don't know if it's any good yet as I just got is yesterday. It's free from iTunes.