a quite
yummy (if, perhaps, not fully "traditional" dish) served at
chinese restruants. consists of
fried pieces of chicken--the
frying is usually
tempura style, however, as opposed to the "deep south
fried chicken"--in a reddish, sweetish sauce. after extensive, erm,
research (aka, i'm a
sucker for sweet/sour chicken) it would appear there are three main
varients on this
dish:
sweet and tangy: a fairly sweet, transparently red sauce with canned pineapple (fresh is too acidic) and sometimes marischino cherries to provide the tangy "sour" part. this one lets you taste the sauce itself the best of any, and still leaves a full chicken taste.
sweet and bitter: a similar red sauce (sometimes pinker, and not quite as sweet. however, instead of pineapple, this dish has green peppers and onions as the interpretation of "sour". oftentimes, the flavor of the vegitables overwhelms both the sauce, and the chicken
sweetened catsup base: common in "quickie" chinese places, the ones with the $1.95 lunch specials, and the all you can eat buffet restraunts. the sauce is a thicker, completely opaque sauce that sometimes looks grainy. its taste is kind of sweet, but sharper than the others, in an abrasive sort of way. an aftertaste that seems very reminiscant of catsup almost always remains behind. usually has no fruits or veggies added. not really a bad dish, but doesn't seem to quite get the gist of "sweet and sour" chicken