I looked into my fridge for inspiration for Shabbat, not wanting to make yet another packet of shnitzel or roast chicken and found all the ingredients I needed for Hawaiian chicken. This is not complicated and it’s a lovely change of pace, made fairly quickly on the stovetop and served with plain rice so you can ladle the sauce on top.

So gather your ingredients and let’s go!

Prepare your rice before you make the chicken so it’ll be ready when you need it.

Then start with your chicken breasts, cutting them into chunks. This is easier to do with them slightly frozen, if you wish, if so just pop them in the freezer for 20-30 minutes. Otherwise, cut them (wiggly though they be) au naturel.

Try to make the chunks approximately the same size so they cook in the same amount of time.

Now gather the rest of the ingredients.

(Note I have my Basic Sauteed Onions, A Kitchen Staple there so I didn’t need to sautee the onions.)

Start by mixing together your sauce ingredients to be at the ready. In a bowl, place the soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar, ginger and pineapple juice and chunks. Stir till brown sugar dissolves. No worries if it’s not perfect, it’ll cook in the pan.

Then briefly sear the chicken chunks in the oil, just enough to barely turn white and flip to the other side. The point is not to cook the chicken yet but rather to lock in the moisture so when you cook it in the sauce it won’t taste like boiled chicken, like so:

If they stay a bit pink, no worries, you will cook it further in the sauce. Scoop out the chicken and place on a plate or bowl. Next, saute the onion till light yellow, don’t let get really brown, and throw in the chopped garlic and stir just under a minute, do not brown it or it gets bitter.

Then toss in the chunked red and yellow peppers. If you need to add some oil, do so, about a tablespoon should do it. Saute briefly.

Add the sauce mixture to the peppers in the pan and stir together, letting it cook about 5-8 minutes on a low simmer.

Now mix the cornstarch with the water, first putting the water in the cup, then adding the cornstarch and whisking with a fork till well combined. Keep it by your pan, you’ll add it after the chicken cooks a bit.

K. Now take your seared chicken and add to the cooking sauce, all at once.

Stir under and over to mostly submerge the chicken in the sauce. Cook a few minutes and add your cornstarch slurry to the pan.

Stir it through the mixture and now keep your eye on this since it will take minutes to finish and you don’t wanna overcook chicken breast since it’ll dry out. Once lightly thickened and chicken is cooked through, serve your chicken with plenty of rice for the wonderful sauce.

Surprisingly, I’ve reheated and served this the day after and the chicken stayed moist and even more flavorful due to the sauce it marinated in. Delicious.

Hawaiian Chicken

1 pound (about ½ a kilo) skinless boneless chicken breasts cut into chunks

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 cloves of garlic peeled and chopped

1 small onion peeled and chopped

1 small knob of peeled fresh ginger chopped (or 1 frozen square)

1 red and 1 yellow bell pepper cut into chunks and seeded

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoon sweet chili sauce

2 to 3 tablespoons ketchup

3 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 ½ cups pineapple chunks, canned

3/4 of a cup of pineapple juice from the can

1 tablespoon cornstarch

4 tablespoons cold water

Directions:

In a bowl stir together the ketchup, vinegar, sweet chili sauce, brown sugar, chopped ginger, soy sauce and pineapple juice and one and a half cups of pineapple chunks. Set aside.

Briefly sauté the chunks of chicken breasts in the oil.

Remove chicken to a plate and put in the chopped onion sauté briefly till soft, not browned add the garlic sauté for a minute, do not brown, and then add the bell peppers sauté in the oil briefly and quickly pull off the fire. Stir together the cornstarch and water till smooth and set next to the pan.

Add the sauce combination in the bowl to the bell pepper mixture in the skillet cook together for about 5 to 8 minutes until it’s starting to look like a sauce. Put the chicken pieces back into the skillet and stir into the sauce cooking for a minute or so and add the cornstarch mix and continue cooking till chicken is done and sauce slightly thickened.

In the same bowl that you made the sauce, put 1 tablespoon cornstarch with a quarter cup of water stir together till smooth. Add to the sauce and chicken in the skillet. When chicken is completely cooked and sauce thickens somewhat, remove from fire and serve over rice.