The first time Lauren, my good friend ever made her family recipe for Sweet & Sour Chicken for me changed me forever! I am sure she now regrets it.  It is by far one of the best meals she has ever made for me and our circle of friends.  Whenever she would ask what we wanted there was really only one answer, well there were two but first was the very famous Sweet & Sour Chicken.  The second was her fabulous Lemonade Cake, which I hope to be able share one day.

Lauren made the mistake of asking me what I wanted for our Sunday dinner during my recent visit to Kansas City.  Of course I said Sweet & Sour Chicken. It is not often she gives in to my request as this dish is a true labor of love.  The preparation alone takes a good few hours with the chopping and grating and stirring and waiting.  It is worth ever single second put into its making.  She said yes with the proviso that I was to act as sous chef.

Cooking at Libby’s (Lauren’s sister) house, we donned our aprons and prepared this dish for the three of us plus their hubbies.  A few hours later it was finally ready and between the five of us, we took our time to seriously over indulge to aching tummies of this family favorite.

I asked Lauren and Libby’s permission to share the recipe with you and as they have no idea where the recipe really originated, it could truly be a family recipe or something that they copied from someone else, they happily agreed. am very excited to share.

Sweet & Sour Chicken with Fried Rice

Ingredients
Chicken
2lbs chicken breasts
2 eggs, beaten
Cornstarch, enough to coat all of the chicken pieces both sides
Garlic salt
Oil for frying

Sauce
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup tomato ketchup
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Fried Rice
4 cups cooked white rice
Soy sauce
5 slices fried bacon, broken into pieces
1/4 cup celery, chopped
1/4 cup onion, chopped
2 carrots, grated
Salt & pepper to taste

Every ingredient can be increased or decreased to your own tastes and make this your own.  The fried rice alone can be varied to add shrimp, vegetables and even a cooked egg.

 
One of my most favorite (incredibly fattening) dishes of all time.
 
Tracey