Name: Sweet And Sour Chicken Hong Kong Style
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 1 tbsp Vegetable Oil (& More For Frying); 400 g Diced Chicken Breast; 80 g Cornflour; ½ tsp Salt; 1 tsp White Pepper; 1 Egg; ½ Onion; ½ Red Bell Pepper; ½ Green Bell Pepper; 8 tbsp Ketchup ((125g)); 8 tbsp Sugar ((40g)); 8 tbsp Vinegar ((40g)); 1 tsp Light Soy Sauce

268 Shares

Some of the links below are affiliate links, so we may receive a commission, at no cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link. Check our Disclosure in the Privacy Policy for more info.

How To Make Crispy Sweet And Sour Chicken Hong Kong Style

Crispy chicken pieces coated in a delicious sweet and sour sauce, served with bell peppers and onions. This recipe is sweet, tangy, sour and tastes incredibly good.

Jump to Recipe - Jump to Video

Hong Kong style sweet and sour chicken is one of my favourite Chinese takeaway meals! It’s a delicious combination of crispiness, tenderness and downright deliciousness.

The chicken is succulently tender in the middle, and a tangy and sticky sweet and sour sauce perfectly coats it. You’ll be surprised at how easy it is to make at home and it’s ready in just 30 minutes.

If you’re a huge fan of sweet and sour chicken, then this recipe is a must-try! It will impress anyone and leave you coming back for more (don’t say I didn’t warn you).

sweet and sour chicken without pineapple

Why You’ll Like This Recipe

It Tastes Good: The sauce that covers the crispy chicken pieces is perfectly sweet and sour and it’s so easy to change the ratio of ingredients to suit your taste.

The sweet and sour sauce comes out bright, red and vibrant just like the takeaway but there’s no food colouring added at all!

So Easy: This Hong Kong style sweet and sour chicken recipe is very easy to make. In fact, It might surprise you at how simple it is.

There are only four major steps: batter and fry the chicken, cook the vegetables, mix the sauce, then put it all together.

Quicker And Cheaper Than A Takeaway: It takes only 30 minutes to make, I’m sure you’ll still be looking at the menu in this time.

It’s a lot cheaper than the average takeaway and it will bring some excitement into your weekday meals.

Watch How To Make Hong Kong Style Sweet And Sour Chicken

Sweet And Sour Chicken Batter

As this sweet and sour chicken dish is made Hong Kong style, it means that the chicken is coated in cornflour before being fried. The result is a delicious golden-brown crispy coating on the outside and tender chicken on the inside.

Recipe Ingredients

Below is a list of the ingredients needed to make this dish:

Chicken: Chicken breast is cut into bite-sized chunks. You can buy chicken breast already diced at your local supermarket to save time.
Hong Kong Style Batter: To make the crispy batter, you’ll need cornflour and an egg.
Seasonings: White pepper and salt are used to season the chicken.
Vegetables: I used green and red bell peppers and an onion. I left out pineapples because I’m not the biggest fan of them in sweet and sour dishes. But if you love them, add a couple in!
Homemade Sweet & Sour Sauce: The chicken is coated in a delicious sweet & sour sauce. It’s very easy to make yourself, it’s simply a mixture of ketchup, vinegar, sugar and light soy sauce.

How To Make Hong Kong Style Sweet And Sour Chicken

Below is a step-by-step guide on how to make sweet and sour chicken, full instructions are on the recipe card at the bottom with a video too.

Step One:

Chicken Marinating In Egg, White Pepper and Salt

Add salt and white pepper to diced chicken and mix thoroughly until evenly distributed. Whisk an egg and mix it into the chicken.

Step Two:

Pour cornflour (corn-starch) into a bowl or large plate. Coat each piece of chicken in the cornflour (make sure all sides of the chicken is coated in cornflour).

Step Three:

Heat oil in a wok or pan on a medium to high heat. When the oil is hot, place a couple of chicken pieces into the oil and fry for 2 to 3 minutes or until golden, then set aside for later.

When frying, mix the chicken around occasionally to avoid it sticking together. I usually add between 3 to 5 pieces at a time, but this depends on the size of your wok or pan.

Step Four:

In a mixing bowl mix together ketchup, sugar, vinegar and light soy sauce.

Step Five:

sweet and sour sauce added to vegetables

In a clean wok or frying pan add oil, chopped onions, red bell peppers and green bell peppers. Stir-fry the vegetables for 2 minutes. If you like pineapples, then you can chuck a few in too!

Add the sweet and sour sauce and mix for 30 seconds or until the sauce has thickened.

Step Six:

Add the crispy chicken pieces to the stir-fried vegetables and sweet and sour sauce mixture and mix together until evenly distributed.

What Vegetables Can I Use

I used green bell peppers, an onion and red bell peppers. I just love the addition of bell peppers, it’s so vibrant and adds an explosion of colour.

Classic vegetable mixes for sweet and sour recipes may also include pineapples, I left them out of this recipe, but you can add them in if you like.

Of course, you can go wild and add in a range of different vegetables, below are a few suggestions:

Green Beans
Carrots
Cabbage
Bean Sprouts
Broccoli
Mushrooms

With most Chinese recipes you’ll need a wok like this one here.

How To Store

It’s best to eat the sweet and sour chicken freshly made, but if you have leftovers, you can keep it for later. The chicken pieces won’t be as crispy as it softens overtime due to being coated in a wet sauce.

Place any leftovers in an airtight container and keep it in the fridge for 2 to 3 days.

What To Serve With Sweet And Sour Chicken Hong Kong Style

Wondering what to serve with sweet and sour chicken?

My go-to side dish has always been fried rice, they just go so well together. Of course, there are many more side dishes this meal matches perfectly with, like these options below:

Singapore Fried Rice: Rice stir-fried with vegetables, prawns, meats and spices.
Tenderstem Broccoli: Roasted tenderstem broccoli with garlic and olive oil, it’s so quick to make and tastes so good.
King Prawn Chow Mein: King prawn chow mein with a homemade chow mein sauce.
Chicken Chow Mein: Packed full of flavour, simple to make and ready in just 20 minutes.
Salt And Pepper Chips: Chinese takeaway salt and pepper chips are tasty, easy and you only need a few ingredients.
Chicken Vermicelli: Rice noodle stir fried and ready in 20 minutes.

Sweet And Sour Chicken Next To Chopsticks

My Top Tips

If you don’t want to fry the chicken, you could bake it in the oven. To do this, simply preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F, gas mark 6) and bake the chicken in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until the chicken is crispy on the outside and cooked throughout.

To get a crispy edge on all sides, turn the chicken pieces around halfway. Once cooked, proceed to fry the vegetables, add the sauce and then add the chicken pieces.

Make sure the oil is hot enough before frying, you can test the oil by putting a piece of batter or chicken in the oil. If it starts to sizzle instantly, then it’s ready.

Overfilling the pan or wok with too many pieces of chicken can result in the oil temperature dropping. This will result in soggy pieces of chicken.

If you like a lot of sauce in your sweet and sour chicken, then you may want to double the sauce ingredients.