sweet & sour stir fry (This is good.)

Published: Sun, 06/21/26

** every part of the can * fish heads * sauce * happy father's day **

SWEET & SOUR stir fry (This is good.) (drawing of bell pepper square, pineapple chunk, onion slice) / My dad did not cook very much when I was growing up, but when he did he did it with a lot of gusto. / (Dad stir-frying some peppers: "Sech-wann peppers! Hot!" / He often cooked things that my mom was not excited about.

(My dad holding a fish head, in front of a big stock pot and a bowl of mussels, and the tail of the fish on the counter. Plus my mom in the background looking disgusted) "Some good, goooood fish broth! Can't wait!"

At some point in the '80s a wok became part of our kitchen (maybe this was trendy?) and my dad got a book of recipes that this exotic pan could be used for. / I imagine this recipe must have started with a page from that book . . . but my dad must have also put his own spin on it. / 1. Start cooking rice / (drawing of rice cooker, with steam drifting up and bubbles pouring out of it)

2. Cut up the chicken and veggies. / (drawings of ingredients): chicken in chunks. Sliced onion. Red bell pepper in squares. Pineapple chunks. Rice. / 3. Put all the sauce ingredients (besides cornstarch) in a saucepan and heat gently. Stir to dissolve sugar. Taste & adjust to be as tangy, sweet, and/or spicy as you like. /

(drawings of ingredients) juice from a can of pineapple chunks; ginger, grated, maybe 1 T; 2 T soy sauce and then more to taste; 1/4 c rice vinegar; 1/4 c brown sugar; chili flakes; some lemon juice; 1T corn starch in 1/4 c water / 4. Off the heat, slowly add/whisk in the corn starch / water mixture, then cook gently until thick & set aside.

5. Get the pan nice and hot and brown the chicken chunks in a little oil. Set aside.

6. Stir-fry the onion for a few minutes. Add bell pepper & continue stir-frying. Add bok choi — the white parts, then a minute or two later the green parts. / My dad chopping leaves, my mom looking dismayed in the background. Dad: "Bok choy! The stems go in first. They take longer." / 7. Add pineapple and chicken and heat through. Add sauce, reserving some for later pouring if you like.

As a kid it was clear to me that this dish was Chinese. (From where in China? I did not ask.) / Now I can only say that it is 100% authentic to my white, west-coast U.S. upbringing. And that the combo of sweet, tangy, gloppy sauce, lean chicken chunks, and soft rice is profoundly comforting. / Sometimes I put mushrooms in it.

(Recipe written on a scrap of notebook paper in my dad's handwriting: Sweet & Sour Sauce 1/2 c pineapple chunks; 3/4 c pineapple juice (or apple or orange); 1/4 c rice vinegar; 1/4c brown sugar; 1 T cornstarch w/ 1/4c water; soy; ginger; lemon juice

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