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Pineapple Chicken

Internationalhard4 servings
Start cook modeView source
Pineapple Chicken

Ingredients

  • lb chicken thighs (or breast), cut into 1” (2.5 cm) piece s
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • tablespoon shaoxing wine(or dry sherry)
  • 1/4 cup pineapple juice(*Footnote 1)
  • tablespoon slight soy sauce(or soy sauce)
  • tablespoon srice vinegar
  • tablespoon sbrown sugar
  • tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1/3 cup cornstarch
  • tablespoon speanut oil
  • cup pineapple slice s, cut into 1” (2.5 cm) chunks
  • bell pepper, cut into 1” (2.5 cm) piece s
  • tablespoon minced ginger

Instructions

  1. Add the chicken, salt, and Shaoxing cooking wine in a medium size bowl, mix well. Let marinate while preparing other ingredients.
  2. Combine all the sauce ingredients in a medium size bowl. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and set aside.
  3. When you’re ready to cook, add the cornstarch to the marinated chicken and toss it to coat it completely.
  4. Heat the oil over medium high heat in a large nonstick (or carbon steel) skillet until hot. Shake the excess cornstarch off the chicken and spread the pieces into the pan without overlapping. Cook without touching until the bottom is browned, 2 minutes or so. Flip to cook the other side until browned, another 2 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a big plate to let it cool.
  5. Use a few layers of paper towel held in a pair of tongs to wipe the extra oil from the pan and leave only 1 tablespoon in it.
  6. If your pan doesn’t have enough oil, add 1 tablespoon of oil.
  7. Heat the skillet over high heat and add the pineapples and peppers.
  8. Add the ginger on top of the veggies.
  9. Allow them to cook undisturbed for 1 to 2 minutes, until the pineapples caramelize and the peppers begin to blister.
  10. Stir a few times.
  11. Stir the sauce again to dissolve the cornstarch completely, and pour it into the pan. Cook until the sauce is fully thickened.
  12. Take the pan off the heat and add the chicken. Toss to coat the chicken with sauce.
  13. Serve hot as a main with steamed rice.

Tips

Coat the chicken with cornstarch only when you’re ready to cook, to create the extra crispy effect. This recipe uses the minimum amount of oil to create extra crispy chicken. It’s important to remove the chicken to let it cool off a bit before adding it back, which will crisp up the coating a bit more. When you cook the veggies, it’s important to keep the cooking time short so the veggies are not completely cooked through. Because the veggies will continue cooking once you add the sauce.