EAT IN ASIA / Destinations / Thailand
Thai style sweet and sour chicken with rice
Who does not know it? Sweet and sour chicken with rice is one of the most popular Asian dishes around the world. Almost every Asia bar in every country serves it. Sweet and sour chicken is liked by so many people that it quickly became a culinary hit.
That is a nice composition of different flavors and textures. It is composed of a lot of vegetables, some fruits, chicken stripes and this unique sauce sweet and sour. The whole dish includes almost all tastes and at the same time it is not too hot. That is why if you do not like extra spicy meals and if you prefer to go with something you know relatively well, you should have it in Thailand too.
Of course, here in Thailand, sweet and sour chicken will be slightly different from the one you know from your country, but still, you will not be too surprised. But at least once, break your rules, skip a traditional Pad-Thai and have it!
What is in a Thai style sweet and sour chicken with rice?
Depending on the place you have it, all ingredients may vary. It means, that not only vegetables and used fruits may be different and be added in different amounts, but it also means that some restaurants add some nuts too. Apart from that, chicken stripes might be either deep fried and breaded or just fried with no additional crust.
Vegetables
The composition of vegetables is really colorful. Almost all colors that you might think about. Thai people do really care about the way of serving dishes, that is why everything has to be beautiful and tempting. Every meal is nicely decorated with extra herbs or vegetables and the mix of ingredients is really rich.
The most popular vegetables in a Thai style sweet and sour chicken are carrots, onions, green mild peppers, tomatoes, and baby corns. Thanks to that, what you get in the meal is a composition of green, red, orange, and yellow vegetables. Apart from that, little garlic parts shine on the plate.
Finally, the dish is usually served with a nice garnish from a sliced fresh cucumber. Apart from that, some fresh coriander leaves are usually put on the rice serving.
Fruits
Here the pineapple is a must. That is the ingredient that is expected by all. Sometimes you can get some raw mango stripes, however, most of the sweet and sour dishes do not have it.
Chicken meat
Now let’s have a look at the meat that is in the dish. Chicken is the base. Sometimes you might find places that serve pork in a sweet and sour sauce, but that is really rare.
Chicken is either deep fried and served in a crunchy crest or just fried on oil and added to the sweet and sour sauce. No matter which meat you choose - pork or chicken, it is juicy, soft, and usually boneless.
Nuts
Here the selection of nuts is not too wide. Actually, if they come at all, usually that are peanuts. Sometimes cashew nuts are added, but then it is almost always separately stated in the menu. That is because these nuts are relatively expensive, and restaurants think it is worth mentioning them and at the same time they raise the dish price.
Sweet and sour sauce
I would not exaggerate if I said that this sauce is the most important ingredient. It is slightly sweet, slightly spicy, slightly sour and it has a delicate salty note. Small chili parts with chili seeds are visible in the sauce. However, these chunks are so small and in such a minority, that the sauce is not too hot.
The texture of the sauce is slightly glutinous. It is a little bit like a jelly but has nothing to do with a thick starchy sauce. But please keep in mind that this texture can be obtained in different ways, what means that it is highly probable that it might contain gluten!
The color of the sauce is something between orange and red. It is transparent but has an intensive color.
Extra topping
Hardly ever the dish is served with extra toppings but if they are added that would either be a separate tiny bowl with chilis in a fish sauce or some parsley or coriander leaves.
Rice
The Thai style sweet and sour chicken is served with a serving of rice. This rice might be either already included in the meal or has to be ordered separately. The rice is plain, with no spices, has a sticky consistence and nicely mixes with the sauce. Thanks to its bland flavor you can easily distinguish and taste all aromas from the sauce, meat and from vegetables.
