Crispy chicken strips with sweet and sour sauce

November 19, 2009 • Hello. I am currently out of the country and unable to respond to comments and e-mails. Rest assured, however, that future posts have been scheduled so new recipes will go live almost everyday during my absence. I'll be back soon with lots of stories and photos. Ciao for now! ~ Connie

Since it was too late to take photos of the chicken strips with sweet and sour sauce inside the girls’ lunchboxes, I contented myself with photographing the leftovers.

Crispy chicken strips with sweet and sour sauce

This isn’t a new recipe. You’ll find the details in an archived entry called sweet and sour chicken fillets. What’s new is that instead of deboning a chicken breast, I used chicken thigh fillets with the skins on. Amazing how the skins affect the crispness of the chicken. Even after the sauce was poured over the chicken strips, they retained their wonderful texture. I know. The skins add a lot of fat to the cooked dish. But for those who don’t mind the extra fat, it might be useful to point out how not removing the skins will affect the overall texture of the dish.

Some tips for making crisp chicken strips.

Okay, I’ve said my piece about the skins already. If you really have to remove the skins, there are other things you can do to avoid soggy chicken strips.

First, pat the chicken dry to remove excess water before dredging in flour.

Second, make sure that the cooking oil is hot enough before adding the chicken strips. If the cooking oil is not hot enough, the chicken will sort of just boil, not fry, in the oil. Instead of getting seared, the meat and the flour will absorb a lot of oil. The result, instead of light and crisp chicken fillets, you’ll get greasy and soggy ones. I don’t use a kitchen thermometer and I assess the temperature of the oil by looking at it. If the oil emits some smoke, it is hot enough. If the oil emits A LOT of smoke, it is very hot. The latter is good if you’re frying a large whole fish but will be too hot for chicken strips.

Third, never overcrowd the pan. Even if the oil is very hot, if you add too many chicken strips at a time, the temperature of the oil will drop and you’ll still get soggy chicken strips.

Fourth, do not turn the heat down while frying. High heat is essential for stir frying. The meat, fish and vegetables in stir fried dishes are cut small for a reason. They are meant to cook in a few minutes. The high heat is also essential to quickly sear the surfaces so that the juices are retained. If you attempt to stir fry over medium or low heat, you will not get the desired results. You will have to cook everything longer and the prolonged cooking will affect both the crispness and the juiciness of the ingredients.

With all those things in mind, you’ll be able to cook your sweet and sour chicken fillets.

July 16, 2008  Print This Post   
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Comments

5 Responses to “Crispy chicken strips with sweet and sour sauce”
  1. Gay says:
    July 16, 2008 at 10:42 am

    I don’t mind the added fat, Connie :)

    Reply
  2. Connie says:
    July 16, 2008 at 1:28 pm

    Me neither hehehe But only once in a while these days. :razz:

    Reply
  3. soloops says:
    July 16, 2008 at 2:51 pm

    re:overcrowding the pan.

    I did just that with the chicken and veg. in chili garlic sauce, and they turned soggy.

    Good thing is, the husband still ate with gusto.

    Reply
  4. Connie says:
    July 16, 2008 at 3:53 pm

    You know, I think there are two kinds of husbands — those who are always suspicious of new dishes and those who see any new dish as something GOOD. Basta maiba. hehehehe

    Reply
  5. soloops says:
    July 17, 2008 at 1:13 pm

    haha.

    My husband is sometimes suspicious but he is more often the second kind.

    Reply
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