In my continued quest to improve my cooking skills when it comes to Asian cooking, I once again am finding it easier than I thought humanly possible to master the art of Asian cooking.  Asian dishes have always held this mystical elusiveness, high atop this mountain I would never be able to climb, as the ingredients wind their way magically through a dish, delivering flavors that have been difficult at best for me to identify at times.

With being part of the WORLDFOODS Texas Taste Team, I get to use my creative culinary juices to create gluten-free Asian inspired dishes with their products – which takes a lot of the guess-work out of it and has enabled me to create some dishes with complex, yet perfectly balanced flavors.  This weekend I wanted to make one of my favorite dishes – Sweet & Sour Chicken.  I actually much prefer Sweet & Sour Pork, however, in an effort to feed the masses in my home, I opted for chicken.  Here is how I put the recipe together & a list of ingredients you’ll need:

Ingredients:

• 2 Lbs of Chicken Thighs (You can use breast meat but I prefer the thigh as its more flavorful/tender)
• 1 Cup Corn Starch (Non-GMO & Gluten-Free)
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 Teaspoon Pepper
• 1/2 Teaspoon Smoked Paprika
• Sesame Oil
• 3 cups White Rice
• 1 White Onion
• 1 Jar of WORLDFOODS Thai Galangal Lemongrass Sauce
• 1/4 Cup Palm Sugar (as needed)
• 1 Plate/Cookie Tray with paper towels (to drain chicken)

Begin starting your rice.  I use a trust handy-dandy rice cooker that cooks rice to perfection every time.  I like to grate in a bit of fresh ginger as well to kick up the flavor a notch!  Take your chicken and begin by cutting up the chicken into bite size morsels, removing as much fat from the chicken.  Next take about 1 cup corn starch, placing it into a large zip lock bag.  Add in salt, pepper and paprika.  You can add more pepper and paprika if you like it to be a bit spicier.  Add chicken into the zip lock plastic bag, sealing top and shake until chicken is fully coated in corn starch mixture.  Cut up one onion at this time and set aside, as you will cook later.

Next heat sesame oil in large skillet. *Note: You might want to put on an apron or t-shirt you don’t mind getting dirty, as handling the coated chicken in hot oil can be a bit messy.  Test oil temperature by dropping in edge of chicken.  If it bubbles and cracks it’s ready! Place chicken into hot oil, allowing it to cook for 1-2 minutes on each side, turning with either a fork or tongs, until coating is golden brown.  While chicken is frying, start cooking onion to lightly brown and soften, but cook just enough so it still has a bit of crunch (3-5 minutes on medium heat).  Take chicken out and place on plate layered with paper towels to drain off any excess oil from frying.

Once you’ve finished frying of the chicken, dispose of the cooking oil (I always put cooking oil into an old metal coffee can).  Taking a few paper towels, gently wipe out the pan and place back on the stove on a medium heat.

Add in 1/2 of the WORLDFOODS Thai Galangal Lemongrass sauce, allowing it to come to a simmer.  Add in 1/4 cup of palm sugar allowing sugar to completely dissolve into the sauce, then add in chicken, stirring lightly to coat each piece of chicken.  Remove from burner and set aside.

Plate dish by scooping up a 1 cup of rice and place into a bowl or on a plate.  Make sure to pack rise into measuring cup so it sticks together when you plate the rice.  Next gently spoon sweet & sour chicken on top of rice, finishing off with the onions.

What I loved about this WORLDFOODS Thai Galangal Lemongrass sauce was that it had all the traditional flavors of sweet and sour, but also packed a punch with some heat!  You can most certainly taste the ginger and lemon grass is sharp in flavor with a hint of sour notes, with the red chili in finishing off this complex sauce.  Adding in the palm sugar cools the heat and adds just a touch of sweetness making this a perfect Sweet and Sour Chicken!

Check out what my Texas Taste Teammates are cooking up:

• Cashew Rangoon – Mary Makes Dinner
• Texas Pad-Thai – Mary Makes Dinner
• The WORLDFOODS Fusion Taste Team – Texas Style! – Lonely Gourmet