Sweet & Sour Chicken Sandwich

You might have seen my last sandwich post: Sweet & Sour Pork Sandwiches. This week it's a chicken version, but it's no copycat!

I modified my sweet & sour sauce, switching out the brown sugar for white and adding a bit of garlic.  Not a big difference, but perhaps better suited to chicken.  The sweet & sour coats deep fried chicken cutlets which are topped with a cheddar bell pepper sauce (which is adapted from a recipe I found, from Gourmet, on Epicurious).  All of this is served up on a soft French Roll.  Yummmm!

Sweet & Sour Chicken Sandwiches
Katie Christy

Pepper sauce adapted from Gourmet

Ingredients:

Pepper Sauce:
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper (about 1/2 a pepper)
2 green onions, sliced
1/4 cup mayonnaise

Sweet & Sour Sauce:
½ cup sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp garlic powder
¼ cup ketchup
2 tbsp water
½ cup rice vinegar

4 boneless skinless chicken half-breasts with tenderloins, trimmed
1/3 cup cornstarch
Oil for frying
4-6 French Rolls

Directions:

1. For the pepper sauce: combine all of the ingredients in the small bowl of a food processor. Process until finely chopped, stopping to scrape the bowl as needed. Transfer the mixture to a small bowl, cover, and chill for at least an hour.

2. For the sweet and sour sauce: in a small saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, and garlic powder (to avoid clumping). Whisk in the ketchup and water until smooth. Whisk in the vinegar.

3. Bring the sauce to a boil, whisking constantly. Reduce the heat and simmer for 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat. Cover and set aside.

4. Lay the chicken breasts and tenderloins in a single layer.  Place a layer of plastic wrap over the pieces.  Pound to an even thickness with a meat pounder (about 1/4" thick).  Leave the tenderloins as is, but cut the breast pieces in half short-ways (to make two squarish pieces out of each).

5. Place the chicken into a large Ziplock bag along with the 1/3 cup of cornstarch. Seal and shake vigorously until each of the pieces is coated evenly. Set aside until ready to use.

6. Heat about an inch of oil in a large skillet or pot. Bring the oil to 350° (and maintain this temperature throughout the cooking).

7. Working with only a few of the chicken pieces at a time, shake off any excess cornstarch and place into the oil, being careful not to crowd the pan (chicken should not be touching). Fry until very light golden, flipping once (about 1-2 minutes). Transfer the cutlets to a paper towel-lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining pieces.

8. Pour the sweet and sour sauce into a clean 12” pan (or discard the oil and wipe the frying pan clean). Heat just until hot. Quickly toss the cutlets in the sauce (no need to cook them further).

9. Open 4-6 rolls. Distribute the chicken evenly onto the bottom buns. Spread about 4 tbsp of the pepper sauce on each bun top (you may have extra sauce, which is great to use as a veggie or cracker spread). Assemble and serve!