Home / Meals / Golden Sweet & Sour Fried Chicken Bowl

Golden Sweet & Sour Fried Chicken Bowl

Purpose
Restaurant-grade fried chicken recipe served in a sweet and tangy sauce on top of rice
Yield
8 portions
Prep time
20 minutes
Cook time
45 minutes

Equipment

  • Large Cooking Pot
  • Small cooking pot
  • Cutting board
  • Chef's knife
  • Wok
  • Spatula
  • Large mixing bowl
  • 2 medium mixing bowls
  • Ladle

Ingredients

Proteins

  • 3 Costco-sized boneless skinless chicken breasts, about 1 kg to 1.2 kg total

Produce

  • 1 onion (diced)
  • 2 bell peppers (diced)
  • 1 341 ml can of pineapple tidbits (fully drained)

Dairy

  • 3 tablespoons butter

Liquids

  • 3 341 ml jars of VH Sweet & Sour sauce
  • 3 cups water (for boiling rice)
  • 8 tablespoons vegetable oil

Chicken seasoning

  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder

First dry coating

  • 1⁄4 cup cornstarch
  • 1⁄4 cup all-purpose flour

Wet coating

  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons water

Second dry coating

  • 1⁄2 cup cornstarch
  • 1⁄2 cup all-purpose flour

Dry ingredients

  • 3 cups instant rice
  • 1⁄2 teaspoon salt (for rice)

Instructions

  1. Dice onion and bell peppers
  2. Fully drain pineapple tidbits
  3. Cut chicken breasts into 1" to 1.5" pieces
  4. Put chicken pieces in a large mixing bowl
  5. Season chicken with salt, black pepper, garlic powder and onion powder, then toss until evenly coated
  6. In a medium mixing bowl, mix the first dry coating with 1⁄4 cup cornstarch and 1⁄4 cup all-purpose flour
  7. Pour first dry coating over chicken and toss until every piece is lightly coated
  8. In the second medium mixing bowl, whisk eggs with 2 tablespoons of water until smooth
  9. Pour wet coating over chicken and toss until every piece is lightly wet and sticky
  10. In the first medium mixing bowl, mix the second dry coating with 1⁄2 cup cornstarch and 1⁄2 cup all-purpose flour
  11. Sprinkle about half of the second dry coating over chicken and toss until it starts sticking to the chicken
  12. Sprinkle remaining second dry coating over chicken and toss again until every piece has a dry, floury coating on the outside
  13. Let coated chicken sit for 5 minutes while heating wok to medium-high
  14. Fry chicken in wok in 4 batches with 2 tablespoons of oil each for 6-8 minutes, tossing often, until golden and cooked through; set aside in cooking pot after each batch
  15. Put cooking pot with fried chicken on the stove on medium heat
  16. Add VH sauce, diced onion, diced bell peppers and drained pineapple tidbits to the fried chicken, then stir gently until everything is coated
  17. Boil 3 cups of water with 1⁄2 teaspoon of salt and 3 tablespoons of butter in a small cooking pot. One it's boiling, add instant rice, stir once to submerge, cover, and remove from heat
  18. Simmer chicken, sauce and produce for 5-8 minutes uncovered, stirring gently and often, until vegetables start to soften and sauce is hot
  19. Cover and cook on medium-low heat for 3-5 minutes, just until sauce clings to the chicken and vegetables are softened to preference
  20. Serve one ladle of chicken with sauce on top of one ladle of rice in a bowl

Notes

Preparation note: The first dry coating helps the egg mixture stick to the chicken, while the second dry coating becomes the crispy outside when fried
Preparation note: Reusing the first medium mixing bowl for the second dry coating keeps the dry coatings separate from the egg mixture while avoiding an extra bowl
Preparation note: Add the second dry coating in two additions so it sticks evenly to the wet chicken instead of clumping at the bottom of the bowl
Cooking note: Frying the chicken in 4 smaller batches helps prevent overcrowding, which keeps the coating from becoming soggy
Cooking note: The chicken should be fully cooked before being mixed with the sauce; the sauce stage is mainly to coat the chicken and soften the vegetables. Do not simmer for too long as the VH saucr is already thick enough.

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