Easy Sweet and Sour Chicken

I confess, I've been cooking on autopilot a lot lately: cycling through my own recipes for weeks and reverting to my standby favourites (rice and beans, veggie rice, gluten free pasta, soup..so much soup!) when I'm really tired. It's been comfy! In the beginning, I felt I needed to put down a showstopper on the table each night, to prove to myself and my boyfriend that allergy food wasn't drab, but now that I know what's out there, chilling with the beau or having some time to read seems more important most nights.

Then we went away on a short break in Scotland and I mostly lived off my home baked gluten free bread, chorizo, and baked beans for four days. It was fun, but I really did not want to see anything tomato, bean, or sausage based when I got back. I wanted fresh, and lots and lots of veg. And easy to put together cos we were still unpacking. I kept thinking 'fennel' ..and then 'pineapple', so sweet and sour it was!

The following recipe for sweet and sour sauce comes out at around about the same thickness and taste as Uncle Ben's sweet and sour. Make of that what you will. Yes, it's not like in the Rice Box (Rice Box, I still miss you!), but it's still nice and doesn't require a box of pineapple juice and another of orange juice like some recipes ask for. it does require a can of pinapple chunks but you probably figured that since those are visible in most sauces anyway. Toss in whatever veg you have at hand, and serve over brown rice.
I know this list of ingredients seems long, but they are mostly things your likely to have at hand (they were what I had!). Probably the only things you'll need to get from the store are the actual pineapple and five spice powder. :)

Ingredients:

• 420g (or similar, that was the weight they had in the store. I could have used less) Pinapple chunks in natural juice. Don't drain the juice! We'll use it in the sauce.
• 2-3 tablespoons of orange marmalade. I used a 'no sugar added' brand cos I react to glucose syrup (which is often derived from wheat in Europe) but any type will do if your less sensitive. The marmalade has it's own sweetness, so it replaces both orange juice and sugar in other recipes. It's also something I had handy, and vow to keep handy!
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (or soy sauce if you're ok with soy)
• 100 ml sherry (sweet or dry)
• 1 inch fresh ginger, chopped fine
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 3-4 tablespoons ketchup
• Quarter teaspoon fennel seeds
• 2 teaspoons five spice powder. I actually had no five spice powder so I pounded 2 cloves, a quarter stick of cinnamon, and a star anise in my pestle and mortar, then added coriander and lots of black pepper. I have a lot of herbs :)
• Cornflour, to thicken.  I always use Doves, cos they have gluten free facilities so I don't need to worry about cross contamination. 
• Red pepper, chopped into 1 inch chunks
• Garlic
• Onions
• meat and veggies of your choice
• Salt, to taste

Method:

1. Chop onions, garlic, and ginger, then fry the onions and garlic for 1 minute, then add the ginger for another minute. If using meat or meat replacement, add now and season. If using had veggies like carrots or cabbage, add this now too. All other veggies should be added later. 
2. Add the sherry, and let boil for 30 seconds.
3. Add everything else except the veggies. You added the pinapple juice too, right? Good! Stir well to get those the jam, ketchup, tomato paste and spices all mixed. You can add a bit more sherry to add liquid, but remember meat and many veggies give off water when they cook. 
4. Now add your veggies, and cook until soft. In a separate small bowl, add a tablespoon of water and a tablespoon of cornflower and mix to get a smooth paste, add to the sweet and sour sauce to thicken. If it's not thick enough to your liking you can repeat this step. I added about 3 tablespoons of cornflower to mine. 

I served this with brown rice because I was craving simple, unrefined foods (I ate many, many refined rice cakes on the road), but sticky or egg fried rice would also be amazing with this. Here's a simple egg fried rice, and here's a more fancy one that would work as a quick meal on it's own, or accompaniment for a special dinner.