My husband has been making this delicious Sweet & Sour sauce since 1979, before he and I had even met. So, I have no idea where the recipe originated. But I do know that it has been a favorite at our house for many years!
The ingredients are basic and easy to find. The only preparation that takes a bit of time is preparing/cooking the meat, and steaming the rice. For the meat, you could marinate and saute' thin strips of beef, you could cook chicken in a variety of ways, use ground pork or beef in homemade meatballs, or use frozen pre-cooked meatballs. I'll include instructions for using chicken or homemade meatballs today.
Sweet & Sour Chicken
Yield: about 6 servings
1 lb Chicken
1 Onion, large diced
1 Green pepper, large diced
1/2 c Water
1 c Ketchup
1 can Pineapple chunks (20-oz), drained; reserve juice
1/2 c Vinegar
3/4 c Sugar
1 ts Salt
1 dash Pepper, to taste
2 TB Cornstarch
3 TB Cold water
4 c Hot, cooked rice
Boil chicken in water or broth until tender, about 45 minutes. De-bone chicken and cut into bite-size pieces. In large frying pan, saute' chicken pieces with onion and green pepper, adding a little vegetable or olive oil if needed to prevent sticking. Cook until vegetables are tender. In separate pan, combine 1/2 cup water, ketchup, pineapple juice (reserved from drained pineapple chunks), vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper. Simmer, stirring occasionally until hot and bubbly. Add sauce to meat and vegetables. Add pineapple chunks. [note: combine ingredients in whichever pan is larger - your saucepan or your frying pan.] Dissolve cornstarch in 3 tablespoons of cold water, and add to the sauce. Bring it to a boil, stirring constantly, until thickened. Serve immediately over hot, cooked rice.
Homemade Meatballs
1 lb Extra-lean ground beef or pork
2 TB Dehydrated onion (you can use fresh, but the onion flavor will be strong)
1/4 ts Pepper
1 ts Kosher salt
1 Egg, beaten
1/4 c Bread crumbs
Combine meatball ingredients in a medium bowl until thoroughly combined. Using a cookie-scoop, shape into 1-inch balls and place on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Place under oven broiler for 5-7 minutes or until meatballs begin to brown. You could also use a toaster oven to brown them. Add meatballs to Sweet & Sour sauce, and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring often, to completely cook the meatballs. Then add the cornstarch-water mixture (see above) to thicken the sauce.
Enjoy!!
On Pinterest I found a recipe titled, P.F. Chang's Lettuce Wraps, Adapted from CD Kitchen Recipe. It looked good, so I tried it for dinner last week. The lettuce-wrapping didn't work for me at all. It tasted good with the lettuce, but my lettuce just fell apart. So we ended up eating the chicken mixture with rice and pieces of torn lettuce. Not as elegant, but much easier to eat. We also ate leftovers wrapped in a flour tortilla - also very good! In fact, the flavor seemed to be even better after a day or two in the fridge.
Not being a Thai connoisseur, I wasn't sure what product to buy for the ingredient, "Chili Garlic Sauce." We also no longer live in a mecca of ethnic foods. In looking over the row of chili sauces at the local Fred Meyer store, I decided to avoid the ones that said "sweet," and I picked the one pictured above - A Taste of Thai's Garlic Chili Pepper Sauce. It was delicious! I don't like food that is very hot, gives me heartburn, or leaves my throat burning, so this was perfect for me. My husband loves hot food, so he added some Sriracha HOT Chili Sauce to his own plate. And we were both happy! Even the children loved it (Note: They are not picky eaters).
The other preparation problem I ran into was that I couldn't find Ground Chicken Breast at the grocery store. I settled for Ground Turkey - 1 lb Ground Turkey Breast, and 1 lb Ground Turkey. After tasting this dish, I don't think the type of meat matters too much. I think you could make it with chicken, turkey, or even ground pork (not sausage).
Thai-style Garlic Peanut Chicken
Yield: 4-6 servings
2 lb Ground Chicken breast (or turkey or pork)
1 Medium onion, minced
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper
4 Large garlic cloves, minced
1 rounded TB Fresh-grated ginger
2 TB Sesame oil
5 TB Soy sauce
1 TB Water
2 TB Peanut butter
1 TB Honey
2 TB + 2 tsp Rice vinegar, unseasoned
3 TB Chili garlic sauce (or more to taste) - I use A Taste of Thai Garlic Chili Pepper Sauce
Dash Fresh-ground pepper
6 Green onions, chopped
1 can (8 oz) Sliced water chestnuts, drained & chopped
1/2 C Roasted peanuts, chopped (salted or unsalted)
10 large Lettuce leaves, torn (opt.)
Steamed rice
Heat a large, non-stick skillet on high. Add chicken, onion, salt & pepper, then cook until chicken is nearly done, stirring often to break up the meat. Add garlic and ginger. Continue cooking until chicken is no longer pink.
Heat together in small saucepan or in microwave - soy sauce, vinegar, oil, peanut butter, water, honey, chili sauce and pepper, until warm and smooth. Add to the skillet and stir to combine.
Add green onions and water chestnuts to skillet, then cook for 1-2 minutes until the onions are soft and water chestnuts are heated through. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts. Serve with rice, torn lettuce, and additional Garlic Chili Sauce, if desired.
Alternately, serve over linguine-type pasta or wrapped in warmed flour tortillas. Enjoy! Leftovers taste great too!
