Chinese Food

A couple of weeks ago I made sweet and sour pork like you get in Chinese restaurants with the breading and the frying and the red sauce (my sauce was more translucent since I didn't want to add food coloring), and I thought there had to be a healthier version that my family would like just as much. I also have been looking for a hot and sour soup recipe that used convenient ingredients to get, that tastes similar to a restaurant's version, since Zoe LOVES hot and sour soup and will eat it all up no matter how spicy it is. I found these two recipes on allrecipes and modified them slightly and it turned out great! For the soup, I only had egg whites on hand, leftover from a previous recipe, so I used that in the soup. Verdict: I thought the sweet and sour chicken was fantastic ad the soup was pretty good, although not up to par with a restaurant's version. Ben didn't much care for the soup, but he doesn't care for it in the restaurant either. I'm pretty sure he liked the sweet and sour chicken since he ate all that was on his plate. Zoe liked both, once we added more vinegar and soy sauce to her soup. She ate all the meat, rice and pineapple, but left the chunks of green pepper, which really is no surprise. :)

Sweet and Sour Chicken
-adapted from allrecipes

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast meat - cubed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 sliced or chunked bell pepper (green, red, yellow, or a combination)
  
• 1 cup carrot strips
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 (8 ounce) can pineapple chunks, juice reserved
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 Tbs ketchup (can be omitted, but gives it that red color)
  

DIRECTIONS

1. Brown chicken in oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add green bell pepper, carrot and garlic and stir fry for 1 to 2 minutes.
2. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and soy sauce and mix together; add vinegar, sugar and ginger and ketchup; pour mixture into the skillet, along with the pineapple and liquid. Stir together and bring to a full boil. Serve with rice.

Hot and Sour Chicken Soup
-from allrecipes

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1/2 cup sliced bamboo shoots, drained
• 3 slices fresh ginger root
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into thin , bite-sized strips
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 egg, beaten

DIRECTIONS

1. In a saucepan, combine the chicken broth, water, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, and hot pepper flakes. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer while you assemble the rest of the ingredients.
2. Place the chicken slices into a bowl and toss with the sesame oil to coat. In a separate bowl, stir together the cornstarch and vinegar, and set aside.
3. Increase the heat under the broth to medium-high, and return to a rolling boil. Add the chicken slices. Return to a boil, and then drizzle in the egg while stirring slowly to create long strands of egg. Stir in the vinegar and cornstarch. Simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until chicken is cooked through and the broth has thickened slightly, about 3 minutes. Serve garnished with green onions. Season to taste with soy sauce and red wine vinegar.