Sweet and Sour Chicken

I love chinese food. I've been eating it my whole life. Donald and I have perfected a few recipes, this is one of mine. Homemade sweet and sour chicken is nothing like what you get from the store, the sauce is far superior, a little saltier, but so good.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp flour
  
• 2 tbsp olive oil
  
• Cubed chicken breast
  
• 1/2 c soy sauce
  
• 2 tbsp thick soy (optional)
  
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
  
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
  
• 1/3 c pineapple juice (from can of pineapple, you'll also use the pineapple)
  
• 1 c pineapple in chunks (see, told ya)
  
• Sliced vegetables of your choice, I recommend carrots and possibly onions, but this is totally up to you. 
  
• Peanut oil (you can't use olive oil for this step, veggie or canola is also OK but peanut works best)

Directions:

1. In a small sauce pan, add the soy sauces, rice vinegar, brown sugar, and pineapple juice and heat thoroughly, but do not allow to reach a hard boil. Heat for 10-15 minutes. 
2. In a bowl, mix the olive oil and flour and mix to create a paste. Put the chicken into the paste and coat thoroughly. NOTE: This is called velveting, which is a way to coat chicken so a sauce holds without deep frying and adding calories!
3. In a wok, heat enough olive oil to cover just the bottom of the wok. Once heated, add the veggies and cook for a few minutes. Do not cook thoroughly or you'll end up with mushy veggies... gross. Remove the veggies from the oil and set aside.
4. Add the chicken to the heated wok and cook completely.
5. Once the chicken is done, add the veggies back and then the pineapple chunks. Pour the sauce over the entire mixture and allow to heat, which will only take 1-2 minutes. If you want to thicken the sauce, toss a spoonful of flour into the mixture.
6. Serve over rice!