Sweet and Sour Chicken and Vegetable Lo Mein

I love cooking different cuisines especially Asian food. There is just something about Asian food the entices me to keep coming back for more. I love the spices that are used in their food. Although this recipe is a simplified form of Chinese food, I love to make it because it is easy to make and super delicious. Stay tuned because I will post recipes on how to make Thai and Indian curries!

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken breasts
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/2 cup vinegar (just the regular one)
• 1/2 cup pineapple juice (fresh or from a can)
• 2 cups pineapple chunks (fresh or from a 20 oz. can; )
• 5 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

 Steps:

1. Preheat skillet pan with 2 tablespoons oil. While oil is warming up, slice the chicken breast into bite sized wedges (it doesn't have to be perfect).
2. Once the oil is hot, toss the chicken in. Let the chicken cook on one side before flipping over. Cook the chicken until it is about 80% cooked through.
3. Mix the ketchup, vinegar, pineapple juice, and corn starch together. Add this mixture once the chicken is mostly cooked. Then add the pineapple.
4. Cook the chicken and sauce for about 10 minutes on medium to high heat (sauce should be bubbling). Then cover with a lid and turn the heat down to low to allow the sauce to thicken up.
5. Once the sauce thickens, serve it with rice or vegetable Lo Mein.

Vegetable Lo Mein
(I love this Lo Mein because you can use whatever vegetables you have on hand! I didn't have napa cabbage so I used celery in it to provide a crunch and it tasted good.)

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces of cooked noodles (spaghetti or Chinese)
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 4 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce (can add another if you like your Lo Mein salty)
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 2 teaspoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 medium red onion, sliced in wedges
• 2 medium carrots (julienned slices or grated using a grater)
• 2 stalks of celery and/or 2 leaves of napa cabbage
• and whatever veggies you like such as mushrooms, green onions, etc.

Steps:

1. Cook noodles according to package (note: I don't cook mine until completely soft because the noodles will be cooked again in steps 6-7).
2. While noodles are cooking, cut the vegetables (red onion, carrots, celery, and others that you want in the Lo Mein)
3. Preheat your skillet or wok with the oil
4. While the oil is heating, make your sauce. Combine the chicken broth, soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, sugar, and cornstarch together.
5. Once the oil is hot, toss the onions in. Cook for about 1-2 minutes and then toss in the rest of the vegetables (you can change the order of when you add the vegetables based on how crunchy or soft you want them).
6. Then add the noodles and the sauce. Mix everything together.
7. Let the Lo Mein simmer for roughly 10 minutes. This allows the sauce to thicken and allows the noddles to soak up the sauce.
8. Once the sauce is thickened, serve the dish.

I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as my family enjoys them! Here is a picture of what the food likes like when it is in the pan and ready to eat! Bon Appétit!