Recipe to Reality: Sweet & Sour Chicken with Fried Rice

Absolutely Delicious!

I was SO excited to try this recipe for a few reasons.

#1. Who doesn't love Chinese food?

#2. The only ingredient that I had to buy were the chicken tenders which means this meal cost me like $4 for the two of us!

#3. In addition to originally finding the recipe at Life as a Lofthouse on Pinterest with great instructions and comments, Heather Lynn from Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks  also made this recipe this week and only had good things to say about it!


Here's What You'll Need:
For your chicken...

1 package of boneless, skinless, chicken tenderloins (I like these because they're easier to cut into chunks, but you can use regular chicken breast as well)

Salt

Pepper

1 cup of cornstarch

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup of vegetable oil

For your sauce...

3/4 of a cup of granulated, white sugar

4 tbs ketchup

1/2 cup distilled white vinegar

1 tbs soy sauce

1 tsp garlic powder

Put it all together!

1. Preheat your over to 325 degrees.

2. Rinse your chicken and cut into cubes. I like to use the tenderloins because they are well cleaned (except for the tendon...) and easier to butcher.

3. Make yourself two assembly line-style bowls. One should contain the cup of cornstarch and the other the two beaten eggs seasoned with salt and pepper. Also, start heating a skillet with the 1/4 cup of oil on medium heat.

Salt & Pepper Kitties Watching Me Work!

4. Coat your chicken chunks in the cornstarch first, and then into the egg mixture.

5. Add coated chicken to skillet and cook until browned (you can't see any pink).

Cornstarch and Egg making Strange Chicken Shapes!

6. While browning, mix together all your ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl. 

7. Move the browned chicken into a 7' x 11' glass baking dish and pour the sauce over the chicken.

Thank you, Hubby for this shot!

8. Bake the chicken for a total of 60 minutes, checking in at 15-minute intervals to stir them around and make sure they are being coated at every angle! An hour seems like a long time, but don't worry your chicken will stay moist and tender!

While the chicken is baking, why not start the rice? You can use leftover rice, but I didn't have any so I made a fresh batch!

For Cooking Rice

2 cups of white rice

1 tbs olive oil

1 tsp salt

4 cups of water

1. Combine all ingredients and stir rice continuously while bringing to a boil.

2. Once boiling, lower heat to simmer and cover.

3. When water is absorbed (about 12-13 minutes) rice is done!

Here's What You'll Need:

For fried rice!

2 cups cooked white rice 

3 tbs sesame oil

1 cup frozen vegetable medley, thawed

1 small onion, chopped

4 cloves of minced garlic

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1/3 cup soy sauce

Putting It All Together!

1. Heat the sesame oil in a skillet on medium-high (I used the same skillet that I cooked my chicken in rinsed out) and add the thawed veggies, onion, and garlic. Cook for about 3-4 minutes until the onions have become a bit translucent and veggies are tender.

2. Lower heat to medium low and push the veggies to one half of the pan. Add the beaten eggs to the other side of the pan and scramble them.

Hibachi at Home!

3. Add the veggies and scrambled egg to your rice with the soy sauce and you're all set!

Did you ever think it could be that easy?!

We devoured this plate of food and have a ton of fried rice as leftovers in the fridge.

The chicken was juicy, tangy and paired perfectly with the fried rice.

I will be making this for my friends the next time they come over because it's delicious, cheap Chinese food.

Who knew I could make Chinese food?!

YUM.

Stay Savory,