Waikiki Beach Chicken and Pineapple

Submitted by Two Socks

"The sauce for this dish is somewhat like a sweet and sour sauce, but has a brighter flavor and is easier to make. I have made this many times and always gets rave reviews. Rumor has it this dish was once on the menu at a popular restaurant on Waikiki Beach."

 

• Ready In: 55mins
• Ingredients: 12
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1⁄2 cup flour
• 1 (20 ounce) can pineapple chunks in juice
• 3⁄4 cup cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 cup sugar
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ginger
• 1 chicken bouillon cube
• 1⁄4 cup cold water
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 large green pepper
• 3 cups hot cooked rice, for serving

directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F and spray a 9x13 baking pan or dish with cooking spray.
2. Set aside.
3. Trim any visible fat from chicken breasts and dry thoroughly with paper towels.
4. Coat chicken with flour, shaking off any excess.
5. Place chicken in prepared dish and place in oven while preparing sauce.
6. Drain juice from pineapple into a medium saucepan and set pineapple chunks aside.
7. Add the vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, ginger, and bouillon cube to saucepan.
8. Combine cornstarch and water and blend until smooth.
9. Add to saucepan and bring to boil over medium-high heat, whisking slowly to dissolve sugar.
10. Boil for two minutes, whisking vigorously.
11. The sauce should thicken and turn clear after boiling for about 1 minute or so.
12. Pour sauce over chicken and lower oven temperature to 350°F.
13. Bake for 20 minutes.
14. Meanwhile, remove stem and seeds from green pepper and remove white veins.
15. Slice into rings and set aside.
16. Distribute pineapple chunks and pepper rings evenly over chicken and bake 20 more minutes.
17. To serve, place about 2/3 cup rice on plate and top with a chicken breast.
18. Top with plenty of the pineapple and pepper rings and drizzle a generous amount of the sauce over all.
19. Serve at once.
20. NOTE: Be sure to use Heinz apple cider vinegar, not a store brand in the sauce.
21. Using any other brand will make the sauce foam up and boil over in addition to having a poor flavor.

Reviews

[Tinkerbell]

Excellent! My family has tried a lot of sweet & sour sauces & they said this is the one they want if I'm not making mine! I myself thought it was a really well balanced sauce and the best I've tasted in a very long time. Probably since I was in Waikiki...23 years ago. ;) I followed the recipe except for a couple slight changes. I used chicken base instead of a cube and I adjusted the cook time to work with the size of my boneless skinless breasts. I used the same baking schedule but only baked mine for 25 minutes, as the full 45 would have dried them out. I thought the method was super easy because the instructions were well written. Thanks for sharing, Two Socks! Made & enjoyed for Spring 2010 Pick A Chef. http://www.recipezaar.com/bb/viewtopic.zsp?t=327498&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

 

[Pharmgoddess]

I made this dish for a dinner party and received rave reviews! The chicken was moist and the sauce was excellent. I followed the recipe as given, without any changes.

 

[Julie Hollie]

I am sorry it took me so long to respond to this dish. It is WONDERFUL, very tasty and not too hard to make. It requires a little more effort than most dishes, but well worth it. Thanks so much for this keeper.

 

[dmr2000_1779379]

Woweee, this is such a delicious recipe. Followed the recipe but omitted the peppers. What a hit! Will make this again and again!!!

 

[metallographer]

This recipe is delicious it is exactly like one that I remember from McCall's recipe cards back in the 70's has anyone actually increased the ingredients to feed a crowd <br/>Metallographer