Sweet & Sour Chicken with Lychees
By: Bing
Published: Monday, October 17, 2011 - 7:23am

Ingredients




500g chicken thigh meat (bones and skin removed)
1 egg white
1 tablespoon corn flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black or white pepper
4 tablespoons cooking oil
For the sauce -
1 small cucumber (about 200g)
1 large onion
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
1 can of lychees (I used 565g can)
2 to 4 tablespoons liquid from the can of lychees above
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon Shaoxing Huatiao cooking wine
salt and pepper to taste
Chives/spring onions to garnish

Preparation

1 Cut 500g of chicken thigh meat into bite size pieces. About 1 inch by 1 inch. 2 Place the meat in a bowl. Add 1 egg white. 3 Then add 1 tablespoon of corn flour. 4 And add 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. I use Masterfoods Garlic Pepper Seasonings whenever salt and pepper is required. A generous shake of this to get about 1/2 teaspoon will do. 5 Mix it all well with your fingers. Set aside till ready to use. 6 Peel and cut a large onion into bite size pieces, approximately the same size as the chicken. 7 Do the same for the cucumber. But keep the skin on the cucumber. 8 Drain a can of lychees. Reserve the juice. 9 Add 4 tablespoons of cooking oil in a hot pan. Keep the heat at medium high at all times. 10 When the pan is hot. Add the chicken and make sure they are evenly distributed on one side on the pan. 11 Let the chicken cook. It will eventually turn golden brown. When that happens, turn it around and cook the other side. 12 Once the chicken is golden brown on both sides, dish them out of the pan and set aside in a warm place. 13 Pour away excess oil in the pan and reserve about 1 tablespoon of oil. Return the pan to the stove and add the onions. Stir fry for a minute. 14 Add 1 tablespoon of minced garlic. Stir fry till garlic is slightly toasted and fragrant. 15 Add the cucumbers. Keep stir frying for another 30 seconds. 16 Add the drained lychees. Mix well. 17 Add 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce. 18 Add 1 tablespoon of ketchup. 19 Add 1 tablespoon of Shaoxing Huatiao cooking wine. 20 Add 1 teaspoon of sugar. 21 Add 2 tablespoons of the reserved lychee juice from the can. If the pan looks very dry, add 1 to 2 more tablespoons of the juice. Do not make too much sauce. We want the sauce to gently coat the meat and not drown the meat in it. 22 Stir well to combine. Add a pinch of salt and pepper or 1/4 teaspoon of Masterfoods Garlic Pepper Seasonings. 23 At this point, taste the sauce and adjust sweetness-sour levels accordingly. If too sweet, add a little more ketchup. If too sour, add more sugar. If not salty enough, add more salt+pepper. Different brands of oyster sauce and ketchup will affect this, so a taste test is a must. 24 Once the sauce is ready, add the cooked chicken back to the sauce and toss evenly. The sauce should just gently coat the chicken without soaking it and making it soggy. 25 Dish up and garnish with chives or spring onions. 26 Serve immediately. Best eaten with rice.

About

This dish came about when I had a sudden craving for sweet and sour pork. I didn’t have the necessary ingredients at home. But I did have chicken and lychees. So I whipped up this dish instead.
For a step by step tutorial on how to make this dish, go to - http://www.storyofbing.com/2011/10/sweet-sour-chicken-with-lychees