Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Almond Chicken

This recipe tricked me into thinking it was Asian because the name of the recipe was in Chinese next to the English!! I liked the taste of this chicken, in fact when I finished half of it I immediately ate the other half. However, it was not easy to execute. Although the recipe called for "paper-thin" slices of chicken, I just sliced it thin and when I got to the thick part I just cut it through the length to make two thin patties. I cut those patties up into smaller pieces. Also, it was really difficult to get the almonds to stick to the chicken. They kept coming off in the oil and I ended up using them as garnish. I fried them in about a quarter-inch of peanut oil. I made up some rice and the taste combination was great. I think next time I try this recipe I will use the larger sized slices and I will chop up the nuts a bit before I dip the chicken in them.

Follow-up: I tried this recipe with smaller-sized almonds and larger-sized chicken. There was just too much almond proportionally, which leads me to think that perhaps all the almonds were not intended to stick to the chicken. I ended up cutting up the left-overs and stirred them into some rice. I will NOT be keeping this recipe, after all.

Almond Chicken

2/3 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 1/2 T cornstarch
1/2 T cooking wine or sherry
1 t. sugar
1/2 t. salt
dash of pepper
1 egg white
1 1/2 c. sliced almonds
oil for frying

1. Cut the chicken into paper-thin slices and place in a bowl.
2. Whisk together all but almonds and oil. Place chicken in sauce and marinate for 20 minutes.
3. Place almonds in a dish and coat each slice of chicken with almonds.
4. Heat the oil over medium heat and deep-fry the chicken for 1 1/2 minutes. When it is cooked, the slices of chicken will rise to the surface. Remove and serve.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Sweet and Sour Sauce

So, I am always hoping to find a recipe for the take-out Chinese restaurant-style sweet and sour sauce. You know, the bright red unhealthy sauce in those packets!! I have never been able to find any brand at the grocery stores that compares. They are too savory for my tongue!! So, here are three recipes that I tried out with my wontons yesterday. The bright red one is a recipe I crafted using some red food coloring. It tasted horrible and was too thick. The one on the right is actually from McDonald's. I searched recipes online and found many recipes to replicate the McDonald's Sweet and Sour Sauce, so it must be popular. The ingredients list apricot jam, an unusual ingredient for sweet and sour sauce, but obviously Americans love it!! Today I found a jug of the red sauce at Smart and Final, didn't buy it but I took a pic of the ingredients and will work on another created recipe.

This is the best of the three I tried. I still can't believe that ketchup is an ingredient in sweet and sour sauce, but it is in most of them as well as an ingredient on the packages of sauce. This sauce was still a bit savory, but I will keep it in case it is the best I can find!! I might add a drop of red food coloring next time.

Sweet and Sour Sauce

1/4 c. pineapple juice
1/4 c. distilled white vinegar
3 T firmly packed brown sugar
1 1/2 T ketchup
1 t. cornstarch dissolved in 2 t. water

1. Combine juice, vinegar, brown sugar, and ketchup in small pan.
2. Bring to simmer over medium heat.
3. Add cornstarch solution and cook, stirring, until sauce boils and thickens.
4. Let cool before serving.

I find it ironic that this is called "Red" sweet and sour sauce, since it is so brown!! This sauce was too tomatoey for me, which could be due to the fact that I used some sun-dried tomato paste from a tube rather than plain tomato paste. I suspect it would still have been too tomatoey even if I had used the plain tomato paste. I used cornstarch. I won't be keeping this recipe.

Red Sweet & Sour Sauce

3/4 c. white sugar
3 t. tapioca starch or cornstarch
1/3 c. white vinegar
3/4 c. water
1/2 small can tomato paste

1. Mix the sugar and starch together, add the rest.
2. Cook, stirring constantly, until clear and thickened.

This sauce was way too thick, and much too savory. It might be good as a dip for meatballs, but I won't keep this recipe.

Pineapple Sweet and Sour Sauce

juice from a 4 oz. can of pineapple chunks or rings
1/4 c. tomato ketchup
1/4 c. distilled white vinegar
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 1/2 T cornstarch
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/4 t. mustard powder
1/2 t. ground ginger

1. Place all of the above ingredients together in a saucepan.
2. Mix together and cook over a medium-high heat, stirring continuously, until the sauce comes together and thickens.

Crispy Chicken Wontons


I appreciate that this recipe enabled me to learn how to hand-fold wontons, but this was the only thing this recipe was good for. I was unable to find a 16-ounce container of wonton skins, so I had a lot of filling left over. The filling was missing the texture and flavor of the wontons you find in restaurants, and the texture of the baked wonton was wrong. These might be better if deep-fried or boiled. I froze the extra wontons so I can try those preparations next time. The fact that the recipe called for you to bring the corners together didn't strike me as the proper way to fold a wonton, although it is certainly less time-consuming. I definitely recommend covering the pan of folded wontons with a damp towel while you fold the remaining wontons, otherwise they will dry out. Also, remove only a portion of the wonton skins at a time from the package or they will dry out.


Crispy Chicken Wontons

3 c. finely chopped cooked chicken
1/2 c. shredded carrot
1/4 c. finely chopped water chestnuts
2 t. cornstarch
1 T water
1 T soy sauce
1/2 to 1 t. ground ginger
16-ounce package of wonton wrappers
2 T butter, melted
1 t. vegetable oil
plum or sweet and sour sauce

1. In a bowl, combine chicken, carrot, and water chestnuts.
2. In another bowl, combine cornstarch, water, soy sauce, and ginger until smooth. Add to chicken mixture and toss to coat.
3. Spoon 1 teaspoon of filling in the center of each wonton wrapper. Moisten edges with water. Bring opposite points together and pinch to seal. Place on greased baking sheets.
4. combine butter and oil and brush over wontons.
5. Bake at 375ยบ for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with plum or sweet and sour sauce. Makes about 4 dozen.