Chinese sweet and sour sauce recipe

How to Prepare / Make / Cook - ?Chinese sweet and sour sauce recipe

When the Chinese cook a whole chicken, they like to chop it all up into bite size pieces for serving. The pieces are reassembled on a platter to look like a whole chicken with the wings and legs positioned properly. Here’s how to do it.

Allow the chicken to cool for a few minutes to firm up the meat and reduce splattering. Be sure to wear a large apron.

Cut off the wings and then cut them apart at the joints. Leave the wingtip whole but chop the other two pieces in half. Place the pieces on either side of an oval platter, reassembled to look whole.

Cut off the legs at the hip joint, close to the body. To do this, pull the legs away from the body and bend at the hip to expose the joint for easier cutting.

Cut the legs apart. With a Chinese knife, chop the thigh and drumstick into 3 pieces about 1 inch wide. Reassemble the pieces on either side of the platter below the wings.

With the chicken breast side up, cut through the breast with a knife or a pair of scissors. Take your time and place the knife down into the bird and cut-chop firmly. Pull open the cavity to expose the backbone. Chop (or cut with scissors) along the side of the backbone, then along the other side, separating the neck and backbone from the carcass. If desired, chop the backbone crosswise into 1-inch pieces and reserve it to enrich and flavor soup noodles.

Place a body half, skin side up, on the cutting board. Chop into 2 pieces lengthwise and then crosswise into 1 X 2 inch pieces, being careful to keep the pieces together so they can be easily reassembled on the serving platter. Repeat for the other half.

Assemble the body pieces, skin side up, in the middle of the serving platter. Always have the most attractive and meaty breast pieces on top, over the bonier rib pieces, for a beautiful and rich presentation. Garnish the platter with sprigs of parsley or cilantro.

Note When you ge Cantonese duck or chicken in Chinatown, they chop up the whole carcass without removing the backbone. The Chinese usually serve the neck and backbone along with the other meat, hidden under the breast pieces. I save those pieces to use in another meal.