Sweet & Sour Chicken - Year 9 Food Preparation and Nutrition

Aug 26, 2026

Upload by Rowan

Step-by-step preparation and cooking guide for Sweet & Sour Chicken (serves 2) within a 55-minute plan. Lists required equipment, ingredients, and sauce components, then walks through pineapple sauce mixing, chicken preparation with cornflour coating, stir-frying aromatics, simmering until thickened, and finishing with spring onions to serve hot. Includes practical health and safety points (cross-contamination, hand washing, hob safety, temperature checking at 75°C) and food quality notes (no lumps, even-sized pieces, cooked through).

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages2

Reading Time5 min

AccessFree to download

Timeplan

Sweet & Sour Chicken

Ingredients and Equipment

Equipment

Ingredients

Cooking Steps and Safety

Food science: gelatinisation

Skills

EQUIPMENT Red chopping board Green chopping board Measuring jug Tablespoon Garlic crusher Frying pan Sharp Knife White plastic spoon TIMEPLAN Sweet & Sour Chicken makes 2 55 minutes INGREDIENTS 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 1 small tin pineapple chunks in juice 2 tbsp sunflower oil 1 onion 1 red or green pepper 1 tbsp cornflour For the sauce 1 tbsp cornflour 2 garlic cloves, crushed 25g/1oz piece fresh root ginger, peeled and finely grated 5 tbsp Pineapple juice 1 tbsp dark soy sauce 3 tbsp tomato ketchup | Time | Activity | Health and
safety points | Food quality points | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | Open the tin of pineapple carefully. To make the sweet sour sauce: put 1 tbsp cornflour in a jug and stir in 2 tbsp of the pineapple juice until smooth. | Be very careful with the tin opener | Mix until there are no lumps left | | 2 | Add the remaining pineapple juice, stir in 2 crushed garlic, finely chopped ginger, 1 tbsp soy, 3 tbsp ketchup and chilli flakes until thoroughly combined. | | Use a garlic crusher | | 3 | Taste it, add 2tbsp vinegar, 2tbsp sugar if you want it to be more sweet and sour. | | | | 4 | Peel and cut 1 onion into quarters, cut each quarter in half. Deseed and chop 1 red pepper and 1 green pepper into quarters. Cut each quarter in 1/3 Trim and slice 4 spring onions into thin slices | Use the bridge and claw method carefully | | Sweet & Sour Chicken | 5 | Prepare the chicken: Cut each chicken breast into seven to nine even pieces (depending on size) . Leave aside. Sprinkle 1 tbsp of cornflour over the chicken. Mix with your hands to coat all sides. | Use a red
chopping board
to prevent cross
contamination.
Wash your hands
with warm soapy water. | Cut into even
sized chunks. | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 6 | Cook the chicken: Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan.When the oil is heated, add and stir-fry the onion and peppers for 2 minutes over a high heat. Add the chicken and stir-fry for four minutes until chicken is very lightly coloured on all sides. | Be careful when using the hob, make sure the oil
does not spit at you. | | | 7 | Add the pineapple chunks. Add the sweet and sour sauce to the pan, stir well. Bring to a simmer then turn the heat to low/medium for 5 minutes. | Do not let it burn or stick to the
bottom of the pan. | | | 8 | Cook for 4–5 minutes, stirring regularly until the chicken is cooked through, and the pineapple is hot.(75°C) Sprinkle with sliced spring onions and serve hot. | Use a temperature probe to check the internal temperature of
the chicken is 75°C. | | Food Science: Gelatinisation The thickening of a mixture, in the presence of heat, due to the swelling of starch grains. (Cornflour in the sweet and sour sauce) Skills: Knife skills bridge and claw-weigh and measure, slice, dice, crush, peel, whisk, stir, combine, thicken

FAQs

How do you make the sweet and sour sauce without lumps?

Put 1 tbsp cornflour in a jug and stir in 2 tbsp pineapple juice until smooth, then combine the remaining sauce ingredients and stir thoroughly.

What cooking temperature should the chicken reach?

The chicken should reach 75°C (check the internal temperature using a temperature probe).

What are the key health and safety points during preparation?

Open the pineapple carefully, prevent cross-contamination using the correct chopping board, wash hands with warm soapy water, and be careful with hot oil to avoid splashing.

Aug 26, 2026

Upload by Rowan