Because the Army (or at least Fort Hood) says that Thursdays are family days, Alan came home early today.  After he stormed the barricades in the living room and lost the battle to three new Nerf guns (his misfired), I made ginger chicken rice and a Korean bean sprout side dish for dinner while we played Apples to Apples.

Typically, I make ginger beef rice, but we had some extra chicken in the freezer.  Also, my measurements are mostly guesses--I never measure anything when I cook.

Ginger Chicken Rice

3/4 C. soy sauce
1 T. mirin
1 tsp. sugar
1 T. ginger, finely chopped
3/4 lb. chicken, cubed
5 C. rice, cooked

Bring the soy sauce, mirin, sugar and ginger to a boil.  Add the chicken and reduce heat to low--cook for two to three minutes.  Add the rice and stir until well covered.  Serve.

sweet and sour chicken

Having shopped our pantry, I decided to make sweet and sour chicken this week.  I've never made it before, and thought I'd give it a try and maybe add it to our repertoire.

While I knew the basics, I was able to find a more authentic recipe at the last minute, and tweaked it for our tastes.

Alan, T and I loved it.  C liked the chicken, which quite frankly says a lot.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

1 lb. chicken (it was actually slightly less, because I trimmed the meat from the bone and fat, which I use for chicken stock)
3/4 C. soy sauce
1 T. mirin
1 tsp. sugar
1 carrot
1/2 onion
3 spring onions
1 C. chopped pineapple with juice
1/2 C. vinegar
1/4 C. pickle juice

Place the chicken in a pan and marinate it in soy sauce, mirin and sugar for 20 minutes.  Turn heat to medium and steam chicken mixture until almost fully cooked.  Remove the chicken and marinade (reserve).

Add sesame oil and stir fry the onion over high heat.  Add the carrot and spring onion, then cook until slightly tender.  Add pineapple with juice, vinegar, pickle juice, chicken and marinade.  Bring to a boil, then simmer until chicken is cooked through.  Add more soy sauce, pineapple juice or vinegar to taste.  Serve over rice.