Sweet and Sour Chicken

 Remember when I made Sesame Chicken at home?  I thought I might not be able to do it again...but I have....  I have created another one of my favorite Chinese take-out dishes, at home!  :)  Yum!
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Sweet and Sour Chicken:
Sweet and Sour Sauce
1/2 lb. Chicken, cut into bite sized pieces
Flour (with a dash of ginger)
1 c. Carrots, sliced
1 Bell Pepper, cut into 1" pieces
1 c. (or more) Pineapple Chunks
1/2 Celery, sliced (optional)
Oil
Rice (cooked as per directions)

Here's my trick or coating chicken.

 Once you have dredged your chicken in the flour, heat some oil in a skillet.  Then place the chicken in the preheated skillet and fry until the chicken is cooked through and golden.  Keep your eye on it, and stir gently and frequently.  Once it's done place on papertowels on a plate.

 In a clean skillet place 1 T. oil, pineapple, carrots and peppers.  Add about 1/2 c. water and cook until tender crisp.

 You can at this point either add the chicken and sauce to the skillet and stir, OR just serve it buffet style.  (Which is what I did...I love buffet style for some reason...)

 Layer rice, veggies, chicken, sauce and optionally crispy wonton strips. (see note below)  Also goes really well with my Chicken Pot Stickers.

For crispy wonton strips just use a pizza cutter (or knife) to cut the wonton wrappers into strips.  Then fry for a few seconds each.  Crispy and light little lovely bites!  :)

Sesame Chicken

I'm not going to lie here.  I never pictured myself as someone who would be able to make really great Chinese  food.  I don't know why...but I just really enjoy getting it out and never thought I would be able to come close at home.  Stir fry is one thing...but the dishes like they actually serve at Chinese Restaurants is another.  You know?  Anyway, when I bought chicken on sale this week, I didn't really have lofty plans for it.  Until tonight, that is.  As it turns out, I'm pretty good at making Chinese food....or at least this dish.  :)  So enjoy!!

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Sesame Chicken:
3 T. Sesame Seeds
~1 lb. Chicken Breasts (boneless/skinless)
1/2 c. Flour
2 T. Cornstarch
1/4 t. Baking Soda
1/4 t. Baking Powder
Dash of Soy Sauce
Oil for frying
Sauce:
1 c. Water
1 c. Sugar
1/4 c. Vinegar (Distilled White or other)
1/4 c. Corn Starch
1 T. Soy Sauce
2 Cloves of Garlic, minced
1/2 t. Ground Ginger

1.  Start by toasting the sesame seeds.  Just throw theme in a small skillet and heat to about medium high.  Swish them around the pan every 30 seconds or so, and soon they'll go from this on the left, to the right.  :)  It only takes about 3-5 minutes.  :)

 2.  In a pan combine all of the ingredients for the sauce.  Then bring to a boil, and stir occasionally.  Set aside.  (Do you like the heart I made in it? :)

 3.  Cut the chicken into 1" pieces, and mix together the flour, corn starch, dash of soy sauce, baking soda and baking powder.  Then toss the chicken pieces in the flour mixture.

 4.  Pour about 1/2" of oil in the bottom of a pan.  Heat the oil, and when it's ready fry the chicken.  Don't crowd the chicken, just do a few pieces at a time.  (You could however do more than this at a time....)

 5.  When the chicken is golden (and done inside) you can set it in a warm oven until the rest is fried.  I placed my chicken on a cooling rack on top of a cookie sheet, so it could drain.

 6.  To serve, I recommend brown rice and broccoli with the chicken, sauce and sesame seeds on top!    You could also toss the chicken in the sauce before serving.  :)

Enjoy!!!!! :)  We sure did!