Sweet and Sour Chicken

I don’t often make Asian dishes. But when I do, I like to make my dishes on the healthier side. Most of the Asian dishes are either deep fried or call for too much sugar or sauce that is full of salt and/or sugar which are not great for our body. These sauces often make me feel sluggish and lethargic after consuming them that I would not want to have that dish for months or even sometimes ever again.

One of mine and Dorian’s favourite dish is sweet and sour chicken/pork. So, I would like to share with you my healthier version of sweet and sour chicken/pork that I make often. Most of this sweet and sour dish is made with fresh ingredients except for the tomato sauce, tomato paste and canned pineapple. I have tried to use tomato sauce that has 50% less sugar to keep the sugar content in this dish on the lower side.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I have. As always, please let me know what you think of this recipe. If you like what you see on this blog, you can follow me on my blog, Facebook or Instagram for some food porn.

Serves 4

Ingredients

For the chicken

600g chicken breast, cut into strips or cubes;
1 tsp San Elk vegetable stock or to taste; and
1.5 tsp corn flour.

For the sauce

1 brown onion, thinly sliced;
2-3 garlic cloves, minced;
2 tomatoes, diced;
1 green capsicum; diced;
3 carrots, julienned;
4 sliced pineapples cut into cubes (about 1 cup) – I used canned pineapple;
1/4 cup canned pineapple juice (you can use 2 tbsp honey or brown sugar if you are not using canned pineapple);
3 tbsp tomato paste;
3 tbsp tomato sauce (use the reduced sugar one if you); and
1/2 cup water (you can use more or less depending on the sauce consistency you like).

Method

Preheat the oven or air fryer to 160 degrees Celsius;
In a bowl, mix the cut chicken, vegetable stock and corn flour until well combined and allow to stand for 10 minutes;
Place the chicken on a greased baking tray or the air fryer and bake in the oven or air fryer for 20-25 minutes or until the chicken is cooked;
Whilst the chicken is cooking, heat the wok on a medium high heat;
When the wok is hot, place the onions, garlic and diced tomatoes and cook until the onions start to caramelise and the tomatoes start to break down slightly;
Then, add the capsicum and carrots and cook until the vegetables are el dente;
Then, add the pineapple chunks, pineapple juice, tomato paste, tomato sauce and water and cook until the sauce starts to bubble;
Add the cooked chicken to the sauce and stir until well combined. Turn off the heat;
Serve the sweet and sour chicken with some rice or quinoa. I had mine with red rice; and
Enjoy 😉