Slow Cooked Asian Style Chicken

 

When I think of sweet and sour sauce, I think of that super sweet, gooey orange stuff you get at the Chinese restaurant.  When I saw that this recipe called for sweet and sour sauce, I went to the store and saw it was loaded with high fructose corn syrup, so passed on it, figuring I could certainly find a recipe on the internet for sweet and sour sauce for cheaper.  I found this highly rated recipe for sweet and sour sauce on allrecipes and used it in the place of the sweet and sour sauce; I'm not sure if it made the called for 10oz or not, and it definitely wasn't that tell tale orange.  It was, however, delicious.

I found this on Lauren's blog, and took her suggestion to use chicken thighs (the original calls for beef, which is a no no in the Mad Men Kitchen more often than not).  In the future, I might mix in some chicken breast for the white meat preferring palates in the house, and maybe 1/2-1 can of water chestnuts.

I really enjoyed this meal, and the sauce was great as well--and fairly easy to make too.

Sweet and Sour Sauce
from allrecipes

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup white vinegar
• 2/3 cup water
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon ketchup
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

Directions

1. Place the sugar, vinegar, water, soy sauce, ketchup and cornstarch in a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil. Stir continuously until the mixture has thickened.

Slow Cooked Asian Style Chicken

slightly adapted from Cooking This and That via Lauren's Kitchen

• 2-3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 2 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
• 1 (10-ounce) jar sweet and sour sauce
• 1 (16-ounce) package frozen broccoli stir-fry vegetables (broccoli, carrots, onions, red peppers, celery, water chestnuts, and mushrooms)
• 3 cups hot cooked rice or rice noodles 

Place chicken into 3 1/2-4 quart slow cooker. Sprinkle with tapioca; pour sweet and sour sauce over chicken in cooker.

Cover and cook on low heat for 7 to 8 hours or high heat for 3 1/2 to 4 hours. At the end of 7 to 8 hours, turn to high heat setting and stir in frozen vegetables. Cover and cook for additional 30 to 60 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Serve over hot cooked rice.