Sweet & Sour Chicken
This homestyle Thai sweet and sour chicken is a vibrant, aromatic stir-fry that offers a refreshingly light and fragrant twist on the classic dish. Featuring unique additions like crisp cucumber, juicy pineapple, and fresh tomato, this colourful medley is tossed in a punchy, glossy sauce that balances sweet and tangy notes perfectly. It is a quick, deeply flavourful meal that celebrates simple, fresh ingredients.
Cuisines
Cooking Instructions
Cooking: 10 minutes
Notes:
Including cucumber in a stir-fry may seem unconventional, but it excels at soaking up the sauce and retains a wonderful, refreshing crunch.
For the best results, use high-quality, clear fish sauce and avoid overly dark or aged versions which can be intensely overpowering.
Maintain high heat throughout the cooking process to ensure ingredients are seared rather than stewed, resulting in a glossy, non-watery sauce.
This recipe is highly adaptable; use chicken thighs for a juicier texture or chicken breast for a leaner alternative.
Prepare Ingredients
Remove seeds from the cucumber and chop into pieces, cut the pineapple into chunks, slice tomatoes into wedges, cut capsicum into irregular pieces, and dice onions and spring onions.
Prepare Chicken
Dice the chicken into small, uniform bite-sized pieces matching the size of the prepared vegetables.
Create Sauce
Whisk the fish sauce, white vinegar, sugar, and cornflour in a bowl until the sugar and cornflour are fully dissolved.
Sauté Aromatics
Heat a large wok or pan until very hot, add vegetable oil, then stir-fry the garlic, onion, and the pale parts of the spring onions until fragrant.
Sear Chicken
Add the chicken to the wok, spreading it out to ensure maximum contact with the hot surface, and sear until nicely browned.
Stir-fry Vegetables
Add the capsicum, cucumber, pineapple, and tomatoes to the wok, tossing for 30 seconds to lightly cook while maintaining a crisp texture.
Glaze and Serve
Pour the prepared sauce into the wok, tossing constantly until it bubbles and thickens into a glossy coating, then stir in the green parts of the spring onions and serve immediately.
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Ingredients
| Chicken Thighs | 500 g |
| Garlic | 1 tbsp |
| Onion | 1 |
| Spring Onion | 3 |
| Cucumber | 1 |
| Pineapple | 200 g |
| Tomato | 1 |
| Capsicum | 1 |
| Fish Sauce | 3 tbsp |
| White Vinegar | 3 tbsp |
| Sugar | 3 tbsp |
| Cornflour | 1 tsp |
