Sweet and Sour Chicken

I made this with the idea of upgrading my entry into the Asian throwdown, but, I think the ribs are the way to go. So, I am posting it here. Sweet and Sour Chicken, chicken rubbed, smoked then grilled, pineapple rubbed and grilled, all of it fried up in wok, using my own Asian style rub and my non-traditional Sweet and Sour sauce.


I prefer my sauce as it is a little more savory and less sweet than the current store bought brands, plus, mine has a bite.

It took a while to get the recipe typed up and loaded, you shall see why.

Sweet and Sour Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
Chicken
* 1-1/2 pound of boneless and skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1" chunks
* 3 tablespoons Bob's Asian Rub
* 1 teaspoon cornstarch

Sauce Ingredients
* 1/4 cup juice from the canned pineapple
* 1/4 cup white vinegar
* 1/8 cup ketchup
* 2-3 tablespoons brown sugar
* 1 tablespoon shoyu
* 1 tablespoon hoisin
* 5 large slices of ginger
* 2 tablespoon grated garlic

Veggies and Fruit
* 1 10-ounce can pineapple slices (reserve juice)
* 1 red bell pepper, cut into 1 inch chunks
* 1 yellow bell pepper, cut into 1 inch chunks
* 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

Bob's Asian Rub
* 3 parts 5 Spice powder
* 2 parts Black Powder
* 2 parts Kosher Salt
* 1/2 part Nutmeg
* 1/2 part granulated garlic
* 1/2 part dried orange peel

Method

1 In a bowl, combine the chicken with the corn starch and rub, allow to marinade for 20 minutes.. Also rub pineapple slices.

2 Place chicken on skewers or in grilling basket, place in smoker for 15 minutes at 225F. Remove and stoke fire up to 400F and grill chicken over high heat until cooked.

3 Place pineapple slices onto grill until nicely marked. Remove and set aside along with chicken.

4 In the meantime, whisk together the sauce ingredients. Reserve 1/8 cup sauce and mix with cornstarch.

5 Heat a large wok over high heat (normal stove) until a bead of water instantly sizzles and evaporates. Pour in the 1 tablespoon of cooking oil and swirl to coat. It's important that the pan is very hot.

6 Add the bell pepper chunks and ginger. Fry for 1 minute. Add the pineapple chunks and the sweet and sour sauce. Turn the heat to high and when the sauce is simmering, add the chicken pieces back in. Let simmer for 1-2 minutes, until the chicken is heated.

7 Add the reserved 1/8 cup of sauce and allow to thicken over medium heat. Sauce will turn translucent when ready.

Gore said:

Better try again, there is no way either of those are going to get zero votes!
Please put a slab of those ribs on that plate and send it to me!

Click to expand...

I tell you what Gore, those ribs were good. And they looked better in real life, that photo does not do justice.

Thanks for the compliments everyone.

Should a Bluesman be too happy or satisfied?

In that recipe, I should point out an error, it is not black powder, it is black pepper.

No, I have not used balsamic, I can see where it would be good. I do use vinegar reductions however for making sauces and such.