Sweet and Sour Chicken—with Mangoes!
There’s something immensely comforting about sweet and sour dishes. It may simply be a mere function of personal preference, but the celebratory joy my senses receive upon tasting the tangy sweetness of a sweet and sour dish is insurmountable—so much that I often find myself (over)indulging in sweet and sour pork from my favorite Chinese restaurant, or cook a huge batch of sweet and sour meatballs that gets finished in one sitting. I have always been satisfied with how my sweet and sour dishes taste like, until that one fateful evening when I discovered something different.
Fried chicken. Served in sweet and sour sauce. With mangoes on the side.
It was pleasantly surprising in so many ways. Summer was just starting and fresh, ripe mangoes abound, putting our beloved tropical fruit to good and unique use. The sweet and sour sauce tasted extremely familiar, exactly how I would make my own. It would have been perfect, though, if not for the greasy chicken skin that made up three-quarters of the dish. Inspired to explore how it would taste differently if prepared another way, I proceeded to work in the kitchen.
The protein was fairly easy. Instead of getting chicken pieces with bones in and skins on, I opted for skinless chicken breast. I pound each fillet with the back of my knife to make it more tender and flavorful. Season well with salt and pepper, and coat with flour, egg and bread crumbs. Season each coating as well to maximize flavor.
Meanwhile, the sauce is a typical sweet-and-sour mixture flavored by a drop of fresh mango juice. This adds a hint of mango-ey flavor, but not enough to overpowers the dish. You may add more mango juice as you wish, but I found that too much mango juice would make the sauce unpleasantly sweet. It would be best to use it sparingly.
Well, there you go: After three painstaking attempts to recreate the dish, here’s my version of that sweet and sour mango chicken that I experienced months back. Do try it out, and let me know what you think in the comments section!
- Cooking oil
- 1 medium-sized white onion
- 1 medium-sized red bell pepper
- ¼ cup plus one tablespoon water
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons sugar cane vinegar
- 2 tablespoons pineapple juice
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon tomato ketchup
- 2 teaspoons fresh mango juice
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 3 small boneless chicken breasts (approx. ¼ kilograms)
- ¾ cup flour
- 1 beaten egg
- ¾ cup breadcrumbs
- Salt and pepper to taste
- One medium-sized mango
- Chop the onion and the red bell pepper into thin strips.
- Sauté the julienned vegetables in one tablespoon of oil under low heat for three minutes.
- While the vegetables are cooking, whisk together ¼ cup water, sugar, vinegar, pineapple juice, tomato ketchup and mango juice.
- Add the mixture to the pan and bring to a simmer.
- Mix the cornstarch with one tablespoon of water. Add to the simmering sauce.
- Continue to simmer until the sauce is thickened. Set aside.
- Butterfly the chicken breasts.
- Pound with the back of your knife on both sides until around ⅓ inch thick.
- Season the chicken, the flour, egg and breadcrumbs with salt and pepper.
- Coat each chicken breast with the flour, the beaten egg and the breadcrumbs.
- Fry under medium heat for three minutes on each side. Drain excess oil on paper towels.
- Remove the flesh of the mango from the seed. Cut into thick strips.
- Assemble the dish: Spoon a little of the sauce over the chicken pieces and add the mango slices on the side. Serve warm.
As with many other food bloggers out there, I am no chef. I come with no culinary training whatsoever, and so it’s not at all surprising that my kitchen adventures are punctuated by frequent mishaps and blunders. Yet, there are recipes that I seem to make much better than others. And so, after years of prodding from family and friends, here I am, sharing the little that I know.
Why “gourmand,” you ask? Simply because I like making and eating good food. I can eat a lot, too—so there you go!