Mary Berry Sweet and Sour Chicken Recipe

Mary Berry’s sweet and sour chicken stir-fries marinated chicken with peppers, celery and onion, in a glossy sauce built from pineapple and lychee juice with a little ketchup. Both fruits go in whole at the end, so it’s fresher and lighter than a takeaway. It serves four to six and comes together in under half an hour once the chicken has marinated.

She keeps it simple in Cooking with Mary Berry, and two things make her version stand out. She uses canned lychees alongside the usual pineapple, which adds a floral, perfumed sweetness most sweet and sour dishes miss. And she thickens the sauce with the reserved fruit juices and cornflour rather than a gloopy shop-bought base.

The one thing that decides the texture is stir-frying the chicken in batches. Berry cooks it in a hot wok, in batches if needed, so it turns golden all over. Crowd the pan and the chicken releases water and stews to a pale grey instead of browning, which no amount of sauce will rescue.

Mary Berry Sweet and Sour Chicken Recipe

Recipe by Pinch PerfectCourse: DinnerCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy

Servings

6

servings

Prep time

45

minutes

Cooking time

15

minutes

Calories

305

kcal

Total time

1

hour 

From Cooking with Mary Berry. A quick homemade stir-fry using both pineapple and lychees, with a sauce made from their juices, ready faster than a takeaway arrives.

Ingredients

• 500g (1lb) skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 2.5cm (1in) pieces

• 2 tbsp dark soy sauce

• 1 tbsp Chinese rice wine or dry sherry

• 1 x 250g (8oz) can pineapple chunks in natural juice, drained, juice reserved

• 2 tbsp cornflour

• 3 tbsp sunflower oil

• 1 green pepper, halved, seeded and cut into bite-sized pieces

• 1 red pepper, halved, seeded and cut into bite-sized pieces

• 1 celery stick, thickly sliced

• 1 onion, cut into bite-sized chunks

• 4 tbsp tomato ketchup

• 250g (8oz) canned lychees, drained, juice reserved

• salt and black pepper

• chopped fresh coriander, to garnish (optional)

Directions

• Marinate: Toss the chicken pieces in a large bowl with the soy sauce and rice wine or sherry. Cover and marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
• Prep the sauce base: Add enough water to the reserved pineapple juice to make 250ml (1 cup) and blend it with the cornflour. Set aside.
• Brown the chicken: Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan. Add the chicken, in batches if necessary, and stir-fry for 3-4 minutes until golden all over. Lift out with a slotted spoon.
• Stir-fry the veg: Add the green and red peppers, celery and onion to the wok and stir-fry for about 5 minutes.
• Thicken: Add the cornflour and pineapple juice mixture, the ketchup, and the reserved lychee juice to the wok, and cook for 3-5 minutes until thickened.
• Finish: Return the chicken to the wok with the lychees and pineapple chunks and heat through. Season with salt and pepper, and serve at once, garnished with coriander if you like.

FAQs

Why does Berry add lychees as well as pineapple?

The lychees bring a soft, floral sweetness and a slippery texture that sets this apart from a standard pineapple-only sweet and sour. Their juice also goes into the sauce, doubling up the fruity base. If you can’t find canned lychees, use extra pineapple and a splash more of its juice, though you’ll lose that distinctive perfumed note.

Can I make it without a wok?

Yes, a large frying pan works fine, which is what makes this a weeknight recipe. The key is a wide pan and a high heat so the chicken sears rather than steams. If your pan is on the smaller side, that’s all the more reason to cook the chicken in batches as Berry suggests.

Why marinate the chicken first?

The half-hour soak in soy sauce and rice wine seasons the chicken right through and keeps it moist during the fast, hot stir-fry. Skip it and the meat tastes flatter and can dry out. If you’re really pushed for time, even ten minutes is better than none, though the full thirty is worth the wait.

What can I use instead of Chinese rice wine?

Berry gives dry sherry as her own alternative, and it does the same job of adding depth to the marinade. A dry white wine works at a push, or you can leave it out and lean on the soy sauce. The rice wine or sherry is there for background flavour, not to make or break the dish.

How do I stop the sauce going lumpy or gloopy?

Blend the cornflour into the cold pineapple juice and water before it goes near the heat, so it disperses smoothly instead of clumping. Berry’s use of just four tablespoons of ketchup and the fruit juices keeps the sauce light and pourable, not the thick claggy coat you get from a jar. Cook it only until it turns glossy and just thickened, then stop.

What should I serve with sweet and sour chicken?

Plain boiled or steamed rice is the simplest partner, soaking up the sauce without competing. Egg fried rice makes it more of a feast, and some plain stir-fried greens on the side balance the sweetness. Keep the sides simple, since the sauce is doing all the talking.