This Sweet and Sour Chicken or Pork Recipe is everyone's favorite!
I made this a lot before my “food conversion”, and it was my “signature” dish when friends and family came over. Since I couldn’t find a good way to adapt the recipe, I didn’t make it for a long time. When I found out that beef tallow is a healthy cooking fat, and I learned a few more ways to tweak the recipe, I began making it again! Now I'm excited to finally share a real food version of this sweet and sour chicken or pork recipe! Keep in mind that the sauce is still pretty sweet, so it’s not a meal you'll want to have real often, but it’s a yummy treat once in a while, and much better for you than what you’d eat at an oriental restaurant.
Sweet and Sour Chicken or Pork Recipe
Yield 4-6 servings
Ingredients
- Organic brown rice, germinated rice, or I LOVE this rice these days. For an easy way to add extra flavor and nutrition, make the rice using homemade chicken broth for the liquid. (Which I make and keep on hand in the freezer or I also keep this shelf-stable broth on hand for when I'm in a pinch.)
- Chicken or pork, cut into bite-sized pieces, about 3 pounds, more depending on how many you're feeding — don't have a good local source for safe meat? Check out this safe meat you can buy online.
- Beer batter ingredients (or see the instructions below for an alternative batter):
- 1/4 cup cornmeal, organic if possible
- 2 cups flour of your choice, unbleached white or Einkorn flour
- Organic seasoned salt to taste – I used almost a Tablespoon. If you don't have that, just sprinkle in some garlic powder, onion powder, sea salt, pepper, and paprika — about 1/2 teaspoon of each or more to your taste.
- One can of beer or 1 1/2 cup water, but water is pretty blah, so you'll need extra seasoning.
- Beef tallow for frying, if you can't find it locally, find a healthy source online for beef tallow (rendered beef fat) and healthy meats, and to see which items are on sale. (Find the smaller tub of beef tallow here.)
- Fruits and veggies of your choice: pineapple in its own juice (see sauce ingredients below), green or other colored peppers cut into small pieces, onions, mushrooms, carrots julienned or sliced.
- For the sweet and sour sauce:
- 4 – 8 ounce cans pineapple bits in natural juices so no corn syrup, strain out the juice (about 1 cup) and reserve the pineapple
- 1 cup water (use part broth if you have some handy)
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 -1 teaspoon ground ginger (to your taste)
- 3 Tablespoons fermented soy sauce
- 5 Tablespoons organic corn starch (organic to avoid the GMOs)
- 1/3 cup palm or coconut sugar
- 6 Tablespoons organic raw apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar
Instructions
Prepare the rice according to directions. (Rice is so easy and fast to make in the pressure cooker.)
Next, prepare the chicken or pork: Cook bite-sized pieces of chicken or pork as instructed at this deep fried heaven post, using this beer batter recipe, you can keep it hot in the oven on warm as you're making more batches. (Don't like beer batter? This recipe is good too -- I doubled it.)
As the meat is frying, prepare the sweet and sour sauce: Combine the ingredients in a medium saucepan. Heat until thick, stirring constantly. Add fruits and veggies of your choice and cook in the sauce until they're the consistency you like -- I like mine to still be a little crunchy. If you like yours softer, stir-fry them in some butter in a separate pan first before adding to the sauce.
Put it all together: Spoon the sauce with the fruit or veggies over the cooked meat and rice and enjoy!
Did you make a real food recipe?
I want to see it! Tag @KitchenKop on Instagram and hashtag it #KitchenKopRecipes OR share anything you know I’ll love by tagging @KitchenKop and hashtag #KitchenKop -- see you over there!
More you might like:
- More Chinese Recipes (For those of you who have missed Chinese food since switching to a more nourishing diet.)
- More about healthy fats/oils – scroll down and see if there’s any you’ve missed.
- Another post about adapting recipes along with a recipe for caramel corn. But since then, I’ve decided Kettle Corn is tastier, easier to make, and with less sugar, too!
Meal Planning Help!
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Couscous & Consciousness says
I’ve never tried cooking with beef tallow, but this sure sounds delicious.
Sue
Butterpoweredbike says
Kelly, I’m so glad you shared this with the Hearth and Soul hop. I remember making it when you posted the recipe and my family went nuts over it 🙂
Dan says
That looks really good. I’m not much of a deep fryer myself, but I do want to try the sauce.
[email protected] 21st Century Housewife says
That does look like a delicious recipe – and so nice that even sweet and sour can be kind of healthy too! What a great treat!
girlichef says
I’ve only recently discovered cooking with beef tallow…and I love it, too! Love just the look of those little pork bites…makes me hungry! Thanks for sharing this delicious post with the hearth and soul hop this week 😀
Elizabeth from The Nourished Life says
Oh my gosh, that looks delicious! I love Chinese, but I never have it any more because it’s so unhealthy at restaurants and I’ve had no success at home. All of these Chinese recipes have my mouth watering – I think I’m going to have to try my hand at this again! 🙂
The Diaper Diaries says
I myself am not a fan of Asian food of any kind, but that is all my hubby would eat if he could. And I am totally laughing at the idea of a tub of beef tallow that is $100. That is some tub!!
Vanderbilt Wife says
Yum! Looks delicious. I love good Chinese food at home.
JessieLeigh says
Looks- and sounds- delicious! Kudos to you for finding a way to make it work in a healthier way. 🙂
Debbie says
I haven’t deep fried in years – but I had no idea beef tallow was healthy! That’s good to know! I’ve been using coconut oil (virgin, unrefined when I can find it) for about a year now and love it. It makes the best sauteed chicken! And I personally L-O-V-E butter, and have been using it more, too. Great informational post – thanks for sharing!
KitchenKop says
I can’t find it at mine either!
tina says
This looks tasty. Because I can’t find pastured chickens here in Colorado, I’ll use my pastured piggy I have in the freezer.
I’m gonna order some germinated brown rice. I sprouted some rice this summer and it was easy but I keep the house too cold to sprout rice in the fall and winter.
I wish I could just go out and buy some germinated brown rice but I can’t find it at my local healthy food store.
Erin says
I’m still a little sketchy on deep frying my own food…. just that big pot of hot fat scares me with my toddler. I will be printing out this sauce recipe, though! I’ll just pan fry the chicken (maybe in coconut oil to give it an extra zing?)… my hubby will be super happy anyway. Thanks!
Ann Marie @ CHEESESLAVE says
This looks great! I will definitely give it a go.
elaine says
Yummmm. I just bought some pork (unfortunately not the good stuff) to try a couple of recipes for my business. I was hoping I could find a good Sweet & Sour recipe. This looks so good and I’ve got all the ingredients!! Can’t wait to try it.