Who isn’t a fan of Chinese food? It remains on the top list of most of us. The cuisine always provides the most unpredictable ingredients with the best balance of taste there is. Sweet and sour chicken is no other. It is not just mouth-watering, it is also visually pleasing to see Chinese food in a bowl. Sweet and sour chicken is that kind of dish.
It is one of those dishes that you can eat at lunch, dinner, or even as a leftover snack. Sweet and sour chicken never disappoints. The taste, the color, the flavors- everything blends so well. On top of that, it will take you about half an hour to cook it minus the preparation time.
It is like a win-win situation with this dish every time. You can never go wrong with this dish. Ask any Chinese food lover around, and you will see how many people can vouch for this one.
What is Sweet and Sour Chicken
You know those dishes that take surprisingly low effort but turn out to be scrumptious? Sweet and sour chicken is one of those. It takes less than 30 minutes to cook but the dish is widely popular among people. Understandable. Who wouldn’t like a bowl of chicken with tangy sauce and steamy rice? I mean the name basically explains the dish and its taste.
But rice is a no-brainer with it. The sauce adds sweetness and tanginess to the bowl. Brown sugar and soy are also added to give it an orange and brown color that looks very appealing. Overall it is the type of dish that has won many hearts so far.
What Does Sweet and Sour Chicken Taste Like
Once we explain the recipe you will have a complete breakdown of what makes it taste so different, and contrasting, yet so good. In a bowl of this dish, you will get both white and dark portions of chicken. The sweetness in this dish comes directly from the sugar used. The sour taste comes from the vinegar-based sauce used.
It also has pineapples in it which contributes to the tanginess that can be felt with every bite of chicken. You might get confused that how could ingredients from so many tastes can blend together without overpowering one another. Well, it works really well. Neither the vinegar nor the pineapple overpowers any taste. Every ingredient compliments each other instead.
It creates a balance between the two and gives your tongue a heavenly taste. Once you take a bite of chicken with rice you will taste the perfect balance of all time. As you eat more you will get to taste the sautee vegetables, garlic, battered chicken, and pineapples. A bowl of sour and sweet chicken is enough to make you understand the hype for Chinese food all around the world.
It is an apocalypse of all types of flavors inside your mouth with every bite. What makes it more delicious is the fact that it can be made very easily within such a short amount of time. In fact, you can get the ready-made Uncle Ben's - Sweet & Sour sauce to make sweet and sour chicken easily!
Is It the Same As Orange Chicken?
Although they might seem or look similar, orange chicken and sweet and sour chicken have a lot of differences. Unlike sweet and sour, orange chicken has spicy and sweet chicken. Red chili flakes are used in orange chicken which makes a distinctive taste difference. Sweet and sour is for those who want to avoid the spicy flavor and add some revolutionary taste to their dish. Another difference is that different part of chicken is used in both dishes.
Orange chicken is made of white breast pieces of chicken that make the meat differently textured. Orange chicken also has a citrus flavor if you can’t tell by the name already. This citrus flavor adds a different taste to it too. Orange chicken has tanginess like a sweet and sour one but misses the sweetness in it.
Last but not the least, the colors of both dishes are very different. Orange chicken is brighter and lighter in a color that catches your eye easily. But sweet and sour chicken is more brownish or golden.
How to Make Sweet and Sour Chicken
For this recipe, you will need corn flour, pineapple, white vinegar, white sugar, soy sauce, chicken tenderloin, green and red capsicum, ginger, cloves, and jasmine rice. First, you will need to prepare the ingredients. Start by cutting the chicken breasts into chunks.
Then marinate with salt, pepper, and other seasonings. Inside a ziplock bag take cornflour, and chicken chunks and then evenly toss them. Now dip the chicken in a beaten egg that you need to prepare beforehand. You need to pan-fry the chicken in olive oil. Cook the chicken pieces till they turn golden. Put them down for a while once they are cooked throughout. Now you need to add the chicken to a baking dish to bake them. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake the chicken chunks for about 15 minutes.
Since the dish tastes really good with sauteed vegetables, you will need to add the vegetables paired beforehand to saute them. You can also add pineapples with it and cook those too. Now, you need to mix the sauce together and pour it into the pan with veggies.
Keep stirring until it turns thicker like honey’s texture. Take the chicken out that should be done by now. Pour the thickened sauce over the chicken. Add vegetables and rice. And there you have sweet and sour chicken with rice!
You can also watch this video to follow a recipe visually -
Conclusion
Now that you have known what it tastes like, you must be starving to try it! Well, it is only natural. The good news is it is not an uncommon dish. You can visit any Chinese restaurant around you and except for a few, almost all of them will have it. Just make sure not to order anything similar to it. For example, orange chicken.
On top of that, chickens are known as a great source of a balanced diet with a vegetable-rich meal. It decreases the risk of cardiac arrest, and obesity. This dish is especially recommended for those who are tired of trying spicy foreign cuisine. So, why wait for more? Order in and enjoy!
