Sweet and Sour Chicken

Today's recipe is an easy one that Judson made completely on his own a few days ago while I was making bread, but it's out of control delicious. We don't use a lot of marinades or sauces in this house, but I don't know why. Every time I take the extra step of marinating something, it becomes my new favourite meal until I forget about it again, but I think this chicken recipe is here to stay.

The marinade recipe, as listed here, makes a ton. Enough that you can marinate your chicken in half of it and save the other half to reduce and pour over the finished chicken. Also, you'll probably want to make enough chicken to have leftovers-- we had this for dinner one night and then topped a hot bowl of ramen with the chopped up leftovers and a runny egg the next day for lunch. I also suspect it would be delicious served along a side a great big veggie stir-fry, or served with a crispy egg on top of a heap of fried rice, which is probably what we'll do next time.

It's super flavourful, really easy, and pretty cheap since you probably already have at least some of the ingredients around. Also, the salt in the soy sauce acts like a brine for the chicken, so it's hands down the most tender chicken I've ever tasted. I recommend using chicken tenderloins if you can get them-- you'll want all that extra surface area to soak up the sauce!

This, however, is a short post because I have a giant Powerpoint presentation I have to go work on because I'm not allowing myself to cook anything until I finish it, and I really want a slice of cake. And also the internet has not been my friend today, so I'm taking a break for the day.

The verdict:

5 spoons out of five. This is just too amazing to pass up. Make it for dinner tonight and you'll love it, but you'll probably be even more grateful when lunchtime tomorrow rolls around and you make a salad/ramen/something else awesome out of it.

The Recipe:

Sweet and Sour Chicken

The ingredients:

½ c soy sauce
½ c white wine vinegar
½ c honey
2 tbsp dry sherry or vermouth
1 c low-sodium chicken broth, or vegetable broth
½ c orange juice (or “juice from canned peaches”)
¼ tsp ground ginger
2 cloves minced garlic
4 chicken breasts or equivalent in tenderloins

THE DIRECTIONS:

Combine all ingredients except chicken in a mixing bowl.
Place chicken in a zippy bag and pour in half of the marinade, reserving other half for later.
Refrigerate and allow to marinate for at least 1 hour or up to all day.
When ready to cook, preheat oven to 375F/190C.
Roast chicken until cooked all the way through and juices run clear when pricked, approximately 15 minutes.
While chicken roasts, pour the remaining marinade into a pot and simmer until reduced to a thick, sauce-like consistency of about 1/3 its original volume. This will take approximately 10-15 minutes, but keep stirring it frequently throughout.
Plate the chicken and pour the reduction over it immediately before serving.