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Easy Spicy Sweet and Sour Fried Chicken
Crispy and flavor-packed fried chicken strips married with my simple and easy sweet and sour sauce that comes together in minutes and bursting with flavors.
Want a recipe for an easy spicy sweet and sour fried chicken? There are a million ways to prepare sweet and sour sauce, but I think I have found a super-easy way if your home is regularly stocked with Thai sweet chili sauce, tomato ketchup, and soy sauce. The sauce comes together in minutes, and if you want an even faster dish, use thinly sliced chicken strips instead of fried chicken strips. :)
How do I prepare the fried chicken strips?
I won’t dispute that you can make this dish with thinly sliced chicken, but trust me, make the bite-size fried chicken strips. They are not difficult, and are good enough to eat on their own!
The fried chicken strips will need:
- 600 gram chicken strips, from chicken breast/thigh
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 teaspoon salt
First, marinate the chicken strips with bruised garlic cloves, lime juice, and salt for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, mix together the batter, and you will need:
- 100 gram all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tablespoon tapioca starch, or cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
Coat the chicken with all the batter mix. Then heat enough oil in a pot for deep frying. And once the oil is hot, fry the chicken strips until golden brown.
Next, we’ll make the easy sweet and sour sauce to go with the fried chicken strips.
What goes into this spicy sweet and sour sauce?
This easy spicy sweet and sour sauce needs only simple ingredients.
For the aromatics:
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 50 gram shallots, thinly sliced
For the vegetables:
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1/4 fresh pineapple, bite sizes
For the sauce, I come up with this super easy combination from:
- 1/2 cup Thai sweet chili sauce
- 1/2 cup tomato ketchup
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 cup chicken broth
- salt and pepper, as needed.
Different brands of sauces have different salt levels, so be sure to taste first before adding more salt and pepper.
And finally, to get that thick luscious sauce and garnish, we will need:
- 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch + 1 tablespoon water, to make cornstarch slurry
- thinly sliced scallions
Easy Spicy Sweet and Sour Fried Chicken
Ingredients
- Fried chicken
- 600 gram boneless skinless chicken breast/thigh, cut into strips
- 4 cloves garlic, bruised
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 100 gram all purpose flour
- ½ tablespoon tapioca starch (or corn starch)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper (or ground black pepper)
- enough oil for deep frying
- Spicy sweet and sour sauce
- 2 tablespoon oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 50 gram shallot, thinly sliced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1/4 fresh pineapple, cut into bite sizes
- 1/2 cup Thai sweet chili sauce
- 1/2 cup tomato ketchup
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- salt and pepper, as needed
- corn starch slurry (1/2 tablespoon corn starch + 1 tablespoon water, mix well)
- 1 scallion, thinly sliced (garnish)
Instructions
- Fried chicken
- Mix together chicken with bruised garlic, lime juice, and salt. Then let rest for 15 minutes.
- Whisk together all purpose flour, tapioca starch, salt, and white pepper. Toss the chicken into flour mixture to fully coat. There shouldn't be any standing liquid at all at this point.
- Heat enough oil in a wok/pot for deep frying. Once the oil is hot enough (it should looks shimmering and runnier), add the coated chicken pieces, in batches if needed, and fry until golden brown. Set aside over a wire rack while we prepare the sauce.
- Spicy sweet and sour sauce
- Heat oil over medium high heat in a frying pan and sauté garlic and shallot until wilted.
- Add bell pepper and pineapple, toss well and cook for 30 seconds.
- Pour in the Thai sweet chili sauce, tomato ketchup, chicken broth, and soy sauce. Bring to a boil. Give a taste test and add salt/pepper if needed.
- Thicken the sauce by adding corn starch slurry, keep stirring until sauce is thick, about 2 minutes.
- Turn off heat, add the fried chicken into the pan, gently toss to coat the chicken with sauce. Transfer to a serving plate, garnish with thinly sliced scallions, and serve with steamed white rice.
Comments
Just finished eating this! Super delicious! The juices from the bell pepper and onion combined with the sauce and fragrant fried chicken is fabulous. I didn't have tomato sauce and used tomato instead. Thank you Anita for your recipe! My family love it 😘
Hi Cris, always glad to hear from you :) And I am very happy you and the family love this recipe as well.
This one's a keeper! Love the sauce!
I especially like the closeup shot - it makes you want to a) make this dish, b) eat it and go back to point a) again :-) Delicious recipe!
Thanks! It's been a while since I last make this sweet and sour chicken, and I really need to have this dish again in my life. :)
Just finished making this for my kids and it was delicious. Thanks for the easy directions!
My kids really loved this recipe! Thank you for sharing!
A sweet and sour dish will always be a kid's favorites. ;)
This sounds like just the recipe for me to try this week!! Can't wait!
Oh, your pictures are mouthwatering! The recipe sounds easy enough to make. It is a KEEPER! Thanks for sharing.
Sounds great. Can't wait to try it.
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