I have been making sweet and sour chicken for many years, especially during my days working in the restaurant. Nowadays, I mainly cook at home for my family, and my priorities have shifted from focusing solely on flavor to prioritizing convenience and health.

Therefore, I want to share this new sweet and sour chicken recipe I regularly prepare at home. 

Instead of deep-frying, as in Chinese restaurants, I stir-fry the chicken in a nonstick pan with little oil. I also substitute honey for maltose. These changes have created a much different flavor that is lighter, quicker to prepare, and healthier than Chinese takeout.

I will also provide instructions on using an air fryer or oven as an alternative to stir-frying so you can choose your preferred method.

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Primary ingredients for the Sweet and Sour Chicken

There are four main groups of ingredients required for this chicken dish:

• Chicken. I used chicken breasts, which must be careful so they are still tender and juicy after stir-frying. Breast meat contains less fat and tends to get overcooked easily. Therefore, I had to coat them with egg whites and cornflour to prevent them from being directly heated and ensure I got juicy chicken. You can also use skinless chicken thighs if you like.
• Sourness. The sourness mainly comes from lemon juice and vinegar and is partly contributed to by tomato ketchup. I use Chinkiang vinegar and add lemon juice at the end of cooking to provide a tangy note. You can also use any other rice vinegar or white vinegar if you do not have Chinese vinegar.
• Sweetness. Maltose is the classic ingredient that adds sweetness to this dish. However, I have replaced it with honey because honey is universally available. Maltose is relatively cheap and viscous, which can create a glossy finish on the chicken. That is why it is used in restaurants. However, the flavor difference is minimal. You can also use brown sugar as a substitute for maltose and honey.
• Vegetables. The required vegetables are capsicum, cucumber, onion, and pineapple. For an additional source of sweetness, you can use canned pineapple instead of fresh pineapple and its juice.

How to Prepare Sweet and Sour Chicken

1. First, cut the skinless chicken breasts into small chunks. They should be small to allow the chicken to absorb the sauce quickly while cooking. More sauce will adhere to the chicken by doing so, resulting in better flavor than larger chunks.

2. Next, marinate the chicken in light soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, minced ginger, egg whites, and cornstarch. This is a standard marinade in preparing Chinese food.  Mix and rub these ingredients thoroughly into the meat, then let it marinate for at least half an hour.

3. Combine honey, ketchup, and vinegar in a small bowl. This will be the sweet and sour sauce. At the end of the cooking process, I will add lemon juice to balance the sweetness and sourness. Adding lemon juice last can prevent the sauce from turning bitter during cooking.

4. Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a nonstick pan. While heating it to medium, add the chicken pieces and stir fry until the surface turns to light brown. 

5. Cut the bell pepper, pineapple, and cucumber into small pieces, similar to the chicken. Also, cut the onion into wedges. 

6. After removing the chicken from the pan, saute the minced garlic with the remaining oil until fragrant. Then add the bell pepper, pineapple chunks, cucumber and stir-fry over medium heat for a minute. 

7. Add the tangy sauce we prepared to the vegetables. Once the sauce starts to boil again, add the lemon juice, then turn off the heat. 

8. The final step is to return the chicken to the pan and mix it thoroughly with the vegetables and the sauce. Adjust the saltiness by performing a taste test. The sweet and sour chicken is now ready. It is usually served with white rice.

How to prepare sweet and sour chicken with an air fryer and oven

If you prefer not to stir-fry the chicken, the alternative way is to bake it in the oven or air-fry it. 

• I suggest omitting the egg white when air-frying the chicken as it can make it slightly soggy. Instead, add two teaspoons of oil to coat the chicken before air-frying it at 195°C/380°F for 15 minutes.
• If you choose to oven-bake the chicken, you can coat it with egg whites plus a tablespoon of oil. You can use the same temperature and timing as air-frying.

Tips and variations

• Since the chicken is marinated with starch, it will likely stick to the pan. Therefore, I solved this problem by using a nonstick pan to stir-fry. I only needed a minimum of oil to stir-fry without any issues. The goal is to cook it with less oil to make the dish healthier.
• You can make more sauce for the chicken. The extra sauce is perfect for adding to plain rice while eating.
• To make the chicken dish more visually appealing, use colorful bell peppers, a mix of green, yellow, and red.
• Coating the chicken with cornstarch or potato starch will make it crispier. Using regular flour will make it less crispy.
• You can also sprinkle some sesame seeds on top of the chicken before serving.