Fruited Sweet & Sour Chicken
By: Jen
Published: Thursday, December 3, 2009 - 12:17am

Ingredients




3 cups rice, cooked
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/4 cup water
1/2 pound chicken, cut into 1 inch cubes
4 smalls nectarines, peeled, pitted, cut into  pieces
1 mango, peeled, pitted, cut into cubes
1 carrot, peeled and thinly sliced
4 inches green onions, cut into 1-2  lengths
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 teaspoons soy sauce
salt & pepper

Preparation

1 Prepare rice as package directs. 2 While rice is cooking, begin to prepare the sauce. 3 To a 2 quart sauce pot over a medium heat, add nectarine pieces and a scant amount of water. Just enough water to stop fruit from sticking to bottom as it heats. Allow the fruit to break down, stirring occasionally. 4 The nectarine will take some time to break down, so while it’s busy doing its thing, heat small amount of vegetable oil in a frying pan. 5 Mix flour, cornstarch, salt, egg and water in a bowl until smooth. Stir in chicken pieces until they are well coated in batter. 6 Add chicken, piece by piece, to frying pan and allow to cook until lightly brown on both sides. 7 Remove chicken to paper towel to drain. 8 Back to the nectarine, which should be breaking down by now. When fruit mashes easily beneath spoon, (like an over boiled potato), mash the fruit to create a pulpy puree. 9 Measure nectarine puree, add enough water to make a full cup. Return to sauce pot. 10 To the nectarine puree, add carrots, green onion, garlic, ginger, vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, and a dash of salt and pepper. Stir, cover and allow to cook over medium heat until carrots are crisp-tender. 11 Add chicken and mango pieces. Stir to coat and allow to cook for a minute or so, just to reheat the chicken but long enough not let the mango break apart. 12 Serve over rice and top with chow mien noodles.

About


This recipe was an experiment, inspired because the canned pineapple I normally use wasn’t on sale but fresh nectarines were. Fresh is always better than canned, so I decided to give my idea a go. Thankfully it turned out really well.