How to make the perfect sweet and sour chicken and the common mistakes to avoid 

It's Chinese New Year and no better way to celebrate than with everyone's favourite takeaway classic

Sweet and sour chicken is the perfect way to celebrate Chinese New Year.

Don't get hung up on chicken

Sweet and sour is delicious with pork, prawns and tofu, so don't be afraid to use the protein of your choice. Toss tofu in five-spice and cornflour and cook either on a frying pan or in an air fryer until crispy, add prawns to the sauce five minutes before serving and cut pork into 5mm thick pieces before cooking. 

To batter or not to batter, that is the question

While most Chinese takeaways serve their sweet and sour chicken deep fried with a crispy batter, for most home cooks, the ordeal of battering may be a bridge too far. If you can't bear the thought of your sweet and sour without a crispy crumb, then make Colm O'Gorman's crispy air fryer chicken and serve it with the sauce in our recipe below. 

Will plain flour do? 

Most recipes for sweet and sour include cornflour. This is for 'velveting' the meat or thickening the sauce and plain flour is an imperfect substitute. When mixed with water, a coating of cornflour will tenderise the meat and when whisked into a sauce, it will thicken to perfect takeaway consistency. 

Don't scrimp on the ketchup

While Neven Maguire uses tomato purée in his sweet and sour, most chefs agree that good old fashioned ketchup gives the best and most delicious rounded flavour to a sweet and sour - and why wouldn't it?  Ketchup is both sweet and sour itself, containing vinegar and sugar in most.  If you don't have ketchup, then you can use tomato purée, but you will want to add some extra sugar to the mixture. 

Tinned pineapple is non-negotiable

Every chef we could find - from Darina Allen to the Hairy Bikers to Ken Hom - includes a tin of pineapple in their recipe for sweet and sour. We can see why. Pineapple juice has the perfect acidic note to begin a sweet and sour sauce with, and the tiny chunks of fruit are welcome bursts of sweetness in the finished dish. Ken Hom adds the juice and zest of a lemon, but it's not essential. 

Chinese sweet and sour chicken

This Chinese takeaway favourite is quick and easy, making it the perfect midweek meal. Substitute pork, prawns or tofu for chicken if you prefer.

Servings

2

Preparation Time

 15 mins

Cooking Time

 15 mins

Total Time

 30 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 350g chicken breast, sliced

• 2 level tbsp seasoned cornflour

• 1 garlic clove

• 1 medium sweet green pepper

• 225g tinned pineapple chunks plus the juice

• 1 chicken stock cube

• 300ml water

• 2 tbsp ketchup

• 1 tbsp malt vinegar

• 2 tbsp honey

• 1 tbsp soy sauce

Method

1. Toss the chicken in the cornflour and season wth salt and pepper.

2. Remove the stalk and seeds from the pepper and chop. Drain the pineapple cubes, reserving the juice.

3. Heat the garlic in the oil. Fry the chicken briefly until brown on all sides. Lower the heat and add the chopped pepper and continue cooking over a gentle heat for 10 minutes.

4. Add the pineapple chunks, mushrooms and tomatoes for the last five minutes. Meanwhile, make the sauce by dissolving the chicken stock cube in the boiling water. Mix with ketchup, vinegar, honey and soy sauce.

5. Blend the leftover cornflour from the dish with a little of the pineapple juice and add to the mixture.

6. Bring to the boil and cook for three minutes, stirring all the time. Add it to the chicken and stir well.