Last week was a bit of a drag – I was getting over my cold and pretty much spent the entire week packing for our move. I’m moving to Ottawa next week so it’s be crunch time! As it turns out, I have a bajillion things, including a TON of kitchen supplies. In any case, this week I’m planning to visit my old home town and will be able to eat a lot [hehe!] including peking duck. Living in a small town with not a lot of cultural foods often means that I get cravings for Asian food. Not trusting some of the Chinese restaurants here [read: 1 all you can eat], I often make westernized versions of Chinese food or Asian fusion foods. Before being able to go back to Toronto for a visit, I decided to make this Asian dish for everyone to enjoy. Pineapple chicken with coconut rice was a hit!
This involves a couple steps, making the coconut rice with coconut milk, and marinating the chicken before frying it up to cover in the pineapple sauce. Personally, I prefer a small amount of sauce to food stuff, so it’s up to you if you want to double the recipe for more sauce. This dinner is packed with vegetables, a bit of fruit, sweet and tangy sauce, savoury marinade, and a sweet-ish rice. You can make the rice in a rice cooker if you want, but I do find that with the addition of the thicker coconut rice, the cooker almost makes the coconut milk baked in and I don’t love that texture. You may have better luck than me though!
This rice is rich in flavour but still light and fluffy; I usually use jasmine rice for this as it needs like liquid to fluff it up. I do add a bit of salt and sugar to the liquid to enhance the flavour of the rice. You’re welcome to add spices to mix it up! Thyme, cilantro, oregano, and paprika could all enhance the flavour further.
Using chicken breast or boneless chicken thighs, the pieces should be chopped up into 1/2″ or smaller pieces to marinate for a couple hours. After it soaks in the soy, egg, and sesame oil mixture, it’ll be ready to be tossed into cornstarch and flour to deep fry. If you’re trying to be a little more health conscious, you can just lightly pan fry the chicken without the egg, flour, or cornstarch.
At the same time the chicken marinates, you’ll be making the delicious sauce with pineapple, pineapple juice, and sugar, salt, & cornstarch. The overall combo makes a mouthwatering and very flavourful dinner!
Pineapple Chicken with Coconut Rice
Asian inspired dinner made with sweet and tangy flavours that combine to make an absolutely mouthwatering combination! Coconut rice stems from Thai roots, while the pineapple chicken is a Chinese play on sweet and sour sauce.
Ingredients
Coconut Rice
- 4 cups made coconut rice, see recipe on Coconut Rice page See below link.
Chicken
- 2 large chicken breasts cut into 1/2" pieces
- 2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 egg, mixed
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 3 tbsp flour
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- vegetable or canola oil for frying
- 1 1/2 cups mixed vegetables Peppers, carrots, onion, peas, corn, squash, celery are all great vegetables to add in!
Pineapple Sauce
- 1 cup pineapple chunks
- 1 cup pineapple juice
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tbsp cornstarch Added together with water to make thickening agent
- 1 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
Instructions
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In a medium bowl, place cut chicken breast pieces. Add soy sauce, sesame oil, pepper and egg. Let marinate in fridge for at least 2 hours - I leave the cover off as the fridge helps to dry it out/congeal but you are welcome to cover it if you think your meat needs extra moisture. It already comes out pretty moist!
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After the two hours, take the chicken out of the fridge. Add flour and cornstarch to chicken to create a thick batter. Personally, I dip the chicken pieces with the marinade into the mixed flour and cornstarch. At the same time, heat oil in dutch oven or large frying pan with high sides on medium high heat. Add chicken and fry until chicken is browned, turning if necessary. Remove chicken from oil onto plate lined with paper towels.
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Lightly steam, quick fry, or boil the vegetables you want to use. Put aside.
Sauce
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In a medium saucepan, combine pineapples and pineapple juice. Bring to a boil then add brown sugar and soy sauce, and simmer for 5 minutes. At the same time, in a small bowl or mixing cup, mix cornstarch and water into a paste. Pour into sauce and stir until thick enough to coat a spoon. Pour chicken pieces into saucepan and mix until thoroughly coated. Toss in the vegetables and place over a bed of regular or coconut rice!
Recipe Notes
Dutch oven can be any size - high walls are best. Good options are cast iron enamel like this one.
Check out the Coconut Rice recipe here!
Stuff For this Recipe:
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