You can make this dish using chicken, beef, pork or tofu. It’s all about the sauce. The dish was originally considered “dessert.” Chinese meals didn’t have dessert as we understand it. Sweet dishes were dessert, but were part of the meal.

INGREDIENTS

Cooking oil (use however much you need to keep things from sticking).

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, breasts, OR an equivalent amount of beef, pork OR tofu — cut into chunks. I precook chicken by baking it in my countertop oven. This simplifies (and speeds) the meal, but you can fry it in the pan with the vegetables. Either method works fine.

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt or 1/4 teaspoon table salt.

1 can pineapple chunks, drained. Save the juice. Use a bigger or smaller can or pinapple. It doesn’t matter as long as everyone likes pineapple. I keep a stash of pineapple chunks in my cupboard in case I feel the urge to make this dish.

Juice from the canned pineapple

1/2 cup vinegar (I use Chinese vinegar which has a slightly smoky taste, but any vinegar will do the job)

1/2 cup ketchup

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt or 1/4 teaspoon table salt

2 to 3 tablespoons brown sugar OR an equivalent amount of honey

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Notes:

I don’t measure the amount of ketchup, vinegar or honey (I rarely usually use brown sugar unless I’m out of honey). I wing it and how much I make depends on how much food I’m preparing. It’s a very flexible recipe. You can use brown or white sugar. Anything sweet will work. What you use depends on what you like and what you have available. I put the sauce ingredients in a separate measuring cup and keep adding bits of sweet stuff, vinegar and/or ketchup or Chinese (or Korean) ketchup until I like it.

FYI, ketchup was not invented in the U.S. It was invented in China and Korea several hundred years ago, centuries before Heinz put it in bottles. Ketchup is often used in Chinese cooking. You can use other stuff (if you are out of ketchup) but it will be extra work to achieve the same end result. The measurements here are for reference only. Taste it. When it tastes the way you like it, it’s ready.

You can add a dash of something hot — dried hot pepper or hot pepper sauce — OR Chinese chilli sauce. Go gently with the hot sauce unless you are sure everyone likes “hot stuff.”

Don’t get hung up with labels. Ketchup has the right balance of sweet and sour and saves you a lot of time in preparation To recreate basically the same sauce using other ingredients is more work which will end up giving you the same result.

2 bell peppers (any two colors), cut into 1-inch chunks

Bunch of green onions (scallions) cut into pieces

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

Other vegetables you can add (but you don’t have to add anything) include mushrooms, broccoli (please pre-cook it!), snap peas, green beans, half an onion (don’t overdo the onion!). You can use many vegetables and tofu if you are a vegetarian, but if you are using a lot of vegetables, make more sauce. This recipe is all about the sauce.

2 or 3 teaspoons cornstarch mixed with enough cold water to make a sticky goop to thicken the sauce.

Cooking Directions

Fry the scallions in the oil. Add the peppers. Add the spices.

If you haven’t pre-cooked the chicken (or other meat or tofu), add now. If you need more oil, add it. If it needs liquid, add some chicken broth. Don’t overcook the chicken or other “meat.” When cut into pieces, everything cooks quickly.

If you have precooked the chicken, add it now, then immediately add the sweet & sour sauce.

Add the sweet and sour sauce. Simmer for a few minutes. Taste and adjust. If the sauce needs thickening, add the baking powder glop, but make sure it’s boiling when you add it. It will thicken immediately so be prepared to pull the pan off the burner — or add more chicken broth or water to thin it.

This is a hard recipe to ruin, but you can if you try hard. Don’t try.

Serve with rice.

Categories: #Food, #Recipes, Anecdote, Cooking

Tags: food, Marilyn Armstrong, recipe, Sweet & sour sauce