Janice says: "In celebration of the Chinese New Year this weekend I thought I would share with you a quick and easy Chinese Sweet and Sour Chicken with rice. This dish serves 4 people and all the ingredients can be bought from our local shops"

1) Marinate the meat with soy sauce, vinegar, 5 spice powder, white pepper and minced garlic for about 10 minutes.
2) Add the egg, cornflour and plain flour to the meat, mix well and keep it in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Prepare the Sweet & Sour Sauce……
3) Add all the ingredients to a saucepan, mix well. Bring the sauce to the boil stirring all the time and simmer until the sauce becomes thick and sticky then it’s ready.

To cook…….
4) Heat the oil in a wok or deep saucepan. You can test the temperature by dripping a little of the marinade into the oil and when it starts to bubble you’re ready to cook.
5) Gently slide batches of the chicken into the pan and deep fry until golden brown and cooked. Drain the chicken onto kitchen towel while you cook the peppers.
6) Heat a tablespoon of oil in the pan and stir fry 1 clove of sliced garlic in the pan until it becomes fragrant. Add the peppers and pineapple and stir fry for 1 min.
7) Add the cooked chicken to the pan with the peppers and pineapple, stir and add as much sauce as you want to use.

Easy Cook Rice
I use a cup full of rice per person. Either, easy cook rice, long grain or Basmati. Oil and boiling water.

8) Cover the base of a saucepan with oil and heat until hot.
9) Add all of the rice giving it a good stir then add enough boiling water to cover the rice with about 1 cm deep more.
10) Add salt and give it one last stir. Cover it with a tight fitting lid and turn down the temperature to very low. Do not be tempted to stir the rice further. This releases the starch and makes the rice glutinous. The rice won’t take long to cook and its ready when the water has evaporated. 10) Test the rice to see if its cooked, if not add a little more water but don’t stir. For a more delicious flavour add a good knob of butter to the pan and replace the lid and let the rice sweat a little.
11) If you are making stir fry rice, cook the rice in advance and make sure it is cold, it will fry better.

Remember, you must cool the rice down quickly by running it under a cold tap to cool and refrigerate immediately.

Do not leave cooked rice in room temperature to cool down.