What coating is used on the chicken used in Chinese restaurants for sweet and sour chicken?

Question

I have a nice sauce to use, but need chicken with that particular coating/taste, and can't seem to replicate that taste. I found a recipe online that uses egg white and cornstarch as a coating, but wanted to see what my culinary friends out in yahoo-land say!

Answer 1

Coating is up to you. You need to experiment to your tastings & style what you want. Use whole egg instead. Chinese cooks don't waste anything.

Here's some coating you can use:

1. Sprinkle garlic salt on chicken. Dip chicken in eggs and then in cornstarch. Deep fry.

2. Cornstarch salt & pepper & deep fry.

3. Add soysauce in the egg mixture.

Its up to you.

Answer 2

honey and kicap.. i love chinese food and i come from a place were the chinese occupy half of the country.. look it up.. its malaysia.. i love sweet and sour chicken.. they do it real good here.

Answer 3

Every restaurant is different but what I have found from experimenting is the Sauces  you buy at the grocery store taste pretty much the same as the restaurants...Buy the quality brands though

Answer 4

I don't like the cornstarch coating that much. Here is a good batter recipe that is thicker, like most of the "American style chinese restaurants".

2 1/4 cups self-rising flour

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper

1 egg

2 cups water

1 quart vegetable oil for frying

DIRECTIONS

Combine flour, 2 tablespoons oil, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, salt, white pepper, and egg. Add 1 1/2 cups water gradually to make a thick batter. Stir to blend thoroughly. Add chicken pieces, and stir until chicken is well coated.

Heat oil in skillet or wok to 360 degrees F (180 degrees C). Fry chicken pieces in hot oil until golden. Remove chicken, and drain on paper towels.

Answer 5

Why don't you try corn starch or corn flour?  I find that it does not burn as easily as regular flour, it actually tenderizes the meat and it puffs up nicely and thinly.

Answer 6

I use corn starch or corn flour

Answer 7

It really depends. China is a huge country, with many types of regional cuisines. And in the Western world, many Chinese dishes have either been made up or adapted to suit Western tastes. And you can probably go to a dozen different Chinese restaurants and find their sweet and sour sauce to taste different. Some ideas might be using pinneapples and vinegar, or oranges and soy sauce. Or you can just get a premade sauce, such as this one (I've never tried it though):

http://www.lachoy.com/products/sauces.js...