Chinese Sweet and Sour Chicken
The crunch is lost when the chicken swims in the sauce. The right way: fry twice in cornflour, make the sauce separately until thick and glossy, and toss it through in the final 30 seconds before serving with the heat off.
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 25 min
- Total
- 50 min
- Calories
- 480
Sweet and sour is one of the world's best-known Chinese dishes, and the one most often botched at home. The problem is always the same: the chicken turns soft and soggy instead of crisp. The fix is technique, not quantities.
Method
-
1
Season
Season the chicken with the soy, salt and pepper and leave it 20 minutes.
⏱ 22 min -
2
Coat
Mix the cornflour and flour. Dip each piece in beaten egg, then in the starch mixture, pressing so it adheres well.
⏱ 8 min -
3
First fry
Oil at 160°C, fry in batches for 5 minutes until cooked without much colour. Lift onto a rack and leave 5 minutes.
⏱ 14 min -
4
Second fry
Raise the oil to 190°C and fry for just a minute and a half until golden and crisp. Drain on a rack.
⏱ 5 min -
5
The vegetables
In another pan with a spoonful of oil, stir-fry the garlic, onion and pepper over high heat for two minutes — they must stay crisp.
⏱ 3 min -
6
The sauce
Add the sauce ingredients (except the cornflour) and boil for two minutes, then the dissolved cornflour, stirring until thick and glossy. Add the pineapple.
⏱ 4 min -
7
Toss in the last 30 seconds
Turn off the heat, add the crisp chicken and toss twice only, then serve at once with white rice.
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Tips that actually matter
- Cornflour is the base, not flour — it gives a lighter, crisper shell.
- Toss in the last 30 seconds. Chicken left sitting in sauce becomes a sponge.
- The vegetables stay crisp, not cooked — two minutes over high heat only.
- Pineapple juice gives natural sweetness and acidity, better than more sugar and vinegar.
People also ask
Why does my chicken go soft so fast?
It sat in the sauce, or you fried it only once. Double frying drives out the moisture, and tossing late preserves the crunch.
Can I use an air fryer?
Yes — 200°C for 15 minutes with an oil spray. Much lighter, with the same rule about tossing late.
The restaurant sauce is bright red — is mine wrong?
The vivid red in restaurants comes from artificial colouring. Here the colour is a natural orange from the ketchup — the taste is the same.
Cook mode
Chinese Sweet and Sour Chicken
-
1
Season
Season the chicken with the soy, salt and pepper and leave it 20 minutes.
-
2
Coat
Mix the cornflour and flour. Dip each piece in beaten egg, then in the starch mixture, pressing so it adheres well.
-
3
First fry
Oil at 160°C, fry in batches for 5 minutes until cooked without much colour. Lift onto a rack and leave 5 minutes.
-
4
Second fry
Raise the oil to 190°C and fry for just a minute and a half until golden and crisp. Drain on a rack.
-
5
The vegetables
In another pan with a spoonful of oil, stir-fry the garlic, onion and pepper over high heat for two minutes — they must stay crisp.
-
6
The sauce
Add the sauce ingredients (except the cornflour) and boil for two minutes, then the dissolved cornflour, stirring until thick and glossy. Add the pineapple.
-
7
Toss in the last 30 seconds
Turn off the heat, add the crisp chicken and toss twice only, then serve at once with white rice.
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