Sweet and Sour Chicken

 I had forgotten about this recipe... how did I do that? I LOVE sweet and sour Chicken! I got this original recipe from our Church Cookbook, it was submitted by Chris Kmetz, but I tweaked it a bit. The original recipe says to cut the chicken into pieces. I like to use really thin chicken breasts (usually the individually frozen chicken breasts are a little thinner than fresh) but you can butterfly them through the thickest part of the breast if it's not thin enough. I leave them whole, and cut into strips after breading and frying. Have you ever had the Mandarin chicken from the Hong Kong?? It's done that way, and I tried to copy that. I LOVE the stuff, and I think this was pretty close! I love Kris's Sweet and Sour sauce tho' I make it a lot and use it as a dip for egg rolls or pot stickers. YUM!  Also, I put pineapple chunks and diced green pepper over my chicken but that is optional, just the chicken and sauce is good on rice. I serve this with some stir fried vegetables on the side. Double YUMMO!!
Sweet and Sour Chicken
4 to 6  thin chicken breasts, (you want them about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch thick, I used 5)
Vegetable oil
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 eggs

1 green bell pepper, diced into about 1-inch pieces
1 small can pineapple tidbits, drained (drink the juice over ice! Yum)
Hot cooked rice (cooked according to package or see my note below)
Soy Sauce for garnish if desired

Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Butterfly the chicken breasts through the thickest part if they are thick. In a shallow pie plate, whisk the cornstarch onion and garlic powder, salt and pepper together with a fork. In another bowl or dish (big enough to dip your chicken in) whisk the eggs until lemon colored and slightly frothy.
In a large skillet, heat enought oil so it'a about 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep. When oil is hot, dip each chicken breasts into the corn starch, then dip into the beaten eggs,

 then carefully place in hot oil, and brown on each side. Takes about 3 to 5 minutes on each side. When brown, place on a cookie sheet that has been lined with paper towels.

While cooking chicken, make the sauce:
Whisk the following together in a medium size sauce pan:
3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 Tablespoons cornstarch

6 Tablespoons catsup
2 chicken boullion cubes
3/4 cup white vinegar
6 Tablespoons water
4 teaspoons soy sauce
After whisking together, bring to a boil over medium heat, and cook until slightly thickened. Remove from heat.

When chicken breasts are browned, place on a cutting board and slice into just over 1/2 inch thick slices.

Place in a 13x9 casserole dish. (I just sliced then slid my knife under each breast and placed in my casserole dish, they almost looked like I didn't cut them) When all of the chicken breasts have been sliced and placed in casserole dish, sprinkle the diced bell pepper and pineapple over the top.

Then pour your sweet and sour sauce over the top of all this and bake in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

While your chicken is in the oven is a good time to cook your rice, most long grain white rice (that isn't minute rice) takes about double the water to how ever much rice you are using

 ( I used Jasmine rice and cooked 2 cups uncooked rice in 4 1/2 cups water...Jasmine rice takes a bit more water) Bring the water to a boil, salt it slightly, then add rice, stir and cover and cook over medium/low heat for 20 minutes, remove from heat and let sit another 5 mintues. Should be perfect! Always check the package though, sometimes the directions are a little different.
When Sweet and Sour chicken is done, serve yourself some rice, then spoon on the chicken and garnish with soy sauce!! I like to serve with stir fried veggies on the side! Enjoy!!!!