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Sweet and Sour Chicken or Pork Recipe

See the notes below for how to make this gluten-free.
Servings: 4 servings
Author: Kelly the Kitchen Kop

Ingredients

Beer batter ingredients (or see the notes below for an alternative batter & gluten-free option):

  • 1/4 cup cornmeal , organic if possible
  • 2 cups flour of your choice, unbleached white or Einkorn flour
  • 1-2 Tablespoons organic seasoned salt. 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.
  • 1 can beer of your choice or 1 1/2 cup water , but water is pretty blah, so you'll need extra seasoning.

For the sweet and sour sauce:

Instructions

  • Prepare the rice according to directions.  Keep warm--I just keep it covered.
  • Next, prepare the chicken or pork (see notes below for an alternative batter and a gluten-free option):  heat the beef tallow in a fryer or a pan with deep sides. Mix the batter ingredients together and stir the meat pieces around to cover well. Once the fat is at 375*, cook the meat pieces until golden. Don't cook too many at once so the fat stays hot enough to bubble. As each batch is done, transfer to a rack over a baking pan and keep warm in the oven. Heat the oil back to 375* before frying more.  
  • As the meat is frying, prepare the sweet and sour sauce:  Combine the ingredients in a medium saucepan.  Heat until thick, stirring constantly.  Add half of the reserved pineapple (more if you'd like, otherwise serve it at another meal) and veggies of your choice. Cook in the sauce until they're soft but not too soft--I like mine a little crunchy.
  • Put it all together:  first rice, then meat, then spoon the sauce over top and enjoy!

Notes

Don't like beer batter?  
This recipe was really good too, I doubled it.  See the spicy/sesame version below for another option.
Want a gluten-free option?
Instead of the batter, put the meat pieces in a big baggie with 2 whole beaten eggs and shake the bag around until all pieces are coated.  Put 2 cups of arrowroot or organic cornstarch in a bowl.  Drop meat pieces in the bowl and toss around to coat well, then fry in the beef tallow.  Add more arrowroot or cornstarch if needed.
Or here's another gf batter recipe you could try.
Want to try a spicy/sesame version?
The instructions are the same as above, and same with the meat (although I used about 4.5# for this recipe), rice, vegetables, and frying fat, but try these ingredients for the sauce and batter instead:
(These amounts make a lot, enough to feed our family of 6 big eaters.)
Sauce (heat all ingredients but corn starch, bring to boil and reduce it some.  Add cornstarch last after mixing with 1/4 cup cold water, whisk and cook 'til thickened.  Turn heat down, add half the pineapple or more if you'd like, plus the vegetables, cook for a minute or so to soften them a bit, remove from heat):
Batter (mix dry ingredients first then stir in the rest):
  • 4 cups organic all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups organic corn starch
  • 1/4 cup baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • 4 cups water
Add green onions and 1/2 cup toasted sesame seeds on top.  :)
Here's a photo:
Here's what the family said about it: