I call this dish Pineapple chicken. It’s similar to lemon chicken, or sweet and sour chicken sans red food coloring. Once you make it you’ll be surprised how easy it is to mimic Chinese take-out food. Except I think it tastes fresher and a bit healthier than take-out. Serve it with a side of steamed white rice and some veggies. Be sure to marinate the chicken beforehand like I mention in the recipe; it makes the chicken tastier and more tender.
Pineapple Chicken
(makes 4 servings)
Ingredients for Chicken:
2 chicken breasts
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 egg
1/4 tsp. pepper
3 Tbsp. flour
3 Tbsp cornstarch
corn or canola oil for frying
Ingredients for Sauce:
1 cup pineapple chunks
1 cup pineapple juice
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. cornstarch + 1 Tbsp. water
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
Directions:
1) In a bowl, cut 2 chicken breasts into chunks. Add soy sauce, sesame oil, pepper and egg. Cover and let marinate in fridge for at least 2 hours.
2) Add flour and cornstarch to chicken to create a thick batter. Heat oil in large frying pan on medium high heat. Add chicken and fry until chicken is browned, turning if necessary. Remove chicken from oil onto plate lined with paper towels.
3) In a medium saucepan, combine pineapples and pineapple juice. Bring to a boil then add brown sugar and soy sauce, and simmer for 5 minutes.
4) In a small bowl, mix cornstarch and water into a paste. Pour into sauce and stir until thick enough to coat a spoon. Pour chicken pieces into saucepan and mix until thoroughly coated. Serve with steamed white rice.
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In a bowl, cut 2 chicken breasts into chunks.
Add soy sauce, sesame oil, pepper and egg and mix thoroughly. Cover and let marinate in fridge for at least 2 hours.
Add flour and cornstarch to chicken to create a thick batter.
Heat oil in large frying pan on medium high heat. Add chicken and fry until chicken is browned, turning if necessary.
Remove chicken from oil onto plate lined with paper towels.
In a medium saucepan, combine pineapples and pineapple juice.
Bring to a boil then add brown sugar and soy sauce, and simmer for 5 minutes.
In a small bowl, mix cornstarch and water into a paste. Pour into sauce -
and stir until thick enough to coat a spoon.
Pour chicken pieces into saucepan and mix until thoroughly coated.
Serve with steamed white rice. Enjoy!
I don’t even like pineapple, but I think this recipe is going to make it on the “more intensive” weekend cooking menu. And by more intensive I mean not a pb&j or cereal. I think it helps that you have awesome pictures to accompany the recipe.
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Oh man, I’m all over this one! YUM!! Can’t wait to try it.
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Yum! That looks totally awesome and I’ve always tried to figure out how to make those chinese restaurant dishes. Thanks! If you’ve got a good mongolian beef receipe, bring it ON! :)
Oooh I think I’m going to make this but I’m also going to add some green pepper and onions and maybe some carrot slices. Looks tasty!
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Arnold Goodway, Candy. Candy said: Pineapple chicken recipe: http://soupbelly.com/2010/07/29/chinese-pineapple-chicken/ [...]
delicious!! m liking this pineapple chiken dish.. two of my fav ingredients!! love the texture! totally drool worthy candy :D
The frying looks great! I agree…Chinese takeout is easy to make at home once you get past the fear of deep-frying (which a lot of people have, unfortunately.) I frequently make lemon chicken or sesame chicken at home and they turn out 5x better than in the restaurants. Good work!
Diana – I love making lemon chicken and all the other chinese take-out recipes at home. They taste so much better because I don’t like to add all the extra corn syrup/sugar that the restaurants do.
Nora – Thanks!
Rachel – Green peppers and onions sound great! That’s how my mom makes them actually. It adds a lot more different flavors. Hope you enjoy it!
Chau – I hope to be adding some more chinese take-out recipes soon. As for mongolian beef, haven’t tried it yet. Maybe I’ll do some research and let you know soon!
April – I hope you like it!
Jennifer – I hope you enjoy the recipe!
The flavors were great but i think i left the chicken frying for too long! I was hoping they would turn out crispy but they ended up a little too soggy. What do you think? Turn up the heat to shorten fry time? About how long should these fry in the oil?
NS – It depends on the size of the chicken chunks you cut, but basically fry them until they are golden brown. If they are soggy, you can do a couple things. 1) skip using the egg and coat them with the cornstarch/flour mixture. They will be crispier without that bready coating. 2) Your oil might not be hot enough, so turn it up a bit. Hope that helps! :)
This looks fantastic, and easy enough that I’ll just have to try it. It seems like if I add some crushed red chile flakes I should have something pretty close to what my local Chinese place serves as General Tso’s Chicken. Thanks so much!
Looks deep-fried & delectable. I’m down for that crispy chicken. mmm…saucy chinese takeout.
Jen – red chile flakes would work great. I always mean to buy some, but forget. Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Anthony – I hope you enjoy it!