I don’t keep pineapple and brown sugar in the house, so I was having trouble deciding which recipe to try for Sweet & Sour Chicken the other day. The recipes I found online and in my cook books all seemed to include ingredients I didn’t have on hand! So, of course, I called Mom, and she helped me out with her version of sweet & sour sauce, which I adapted for myself. I thought it turned out quite good, and Hubby said he loved it, so I guess it’s something to keep on hand!

Ingredients

• chicken (I used about eight boneless, skinless thighs)
• rice, steamed, about 1-1½ cups per person before preparing

For the Sauce:

• 1 cube of chicken bouillon
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• garlic, either fresh (2 cloves, minced) or powder (about ½ tsp)
• 1 green bell pepper
• ½ tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp ketchup
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1/4 cup sugar (again, to taste)
• 1-1½ cups water
• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp white vinegar (or more, to taste)
• Optional: small amount of ginger

Directions

1. Start by making the rice. The steaming will take longer than any of the other preparations.

2. Prepare the chicken for cooking (cut off fat, etc) and chop into bite-sized pieces.

3. Begin the sauce by sautéing the onion in oil. When the onion is just about done, you can add the bell pepper and the garlic, if you are using fresh garlic. For garlic powder, wait until after you add water so that it doesn’t burn. Note: I did not use ginger in my preparation of this recipe, but Mom highly recommends it. She suggests boiling a slice of ginger (not sure how long) and then using the juice from that, rather than the actual ginger, when cooking.

4. To your vegetables, add water and bouillon, stirring until it dissolves. Lower the heat if it begins to boil, you only need it at a simmer. Add the rest of the ingredients in no particular order and simmer for 10-15 minutes. You will need to do a few taste-tests. If it’s too sweet, you can add some more vinegar, and if too sour, add more sugar. If it tastes more salty than you would like, just remember that the rice and chicken will even it out.

5. Cook the chicken. I simply fried it in its own grease, but I added a dash of soy sauce and black pepper for extra flavor.

6. Serve chicken on a bed of rice, topped with the sauce. I would recommend having a vegetable or two on the side. We had corn with ours, but green beans or peas would go very nicely with it. Should make 4 servings.