Sweet n sour chicken......when/how to add ready made sauce ?

[Dave7]

I have decided to make this meal the easy way ie frozen chicken balls done in the airfryer and a jar/sachet of ready made sauce.
My quandary is how/when to add the sauce.
Sounds simple but it dont want to mess up a pan just to heat some sticky sauce up.
I have a cunning plan which is to cook the chicken balls using a liner in the a/fryer (i use them all the time). Then pour in some sauce for the last, say, 2 minutes. In that way all the mess is contained.
NB
I won't bother with pineapple but might fry some bell peppers.
Do you think this will work? Do you have a better (mess free) idea ?
Ta

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I don't do - or have not done yet - sweet and sour

but when I do something similar with curry sauce then I get the chicken cooked and then add the sauce to the same pan
which is normally the frying pan - but the air fryer would work as well

but I then normally let it simmer for a while so it all mixes up and whatever

which is easy if you use brown rice as I just start the rice as the sauce get to the simmer and then both can have 20-25 minutes before they are ready

 

[Dave7]

I don't do - or have not done yet - sweet and sour

but when I do something similar with curry sauce then I get the chicken cooked and then add the sauce to the same pan
which is normally the frying pan - but the air fryer would work as well

but I then normally let it simmer for a while so it all mixes up and whatever

which is easy if you use brown rice as I just start the rice as the sauce get to the simmer and then both can have 20-25 minutes before they are ready

I do similar with eg jars of curry paste, normally in the wok as I will have done the mushrooms, onion, peppers and chicken in that.
However, I am thinking that sweet and sour sauce will be sticky/messy. I will be happy to find I am wrong, in which case it can go in the pan (after cooking the chicken in the A/F).

 

[Jameshow]

I have decided to make this meal the easy way ie frozen chicken balls done in the airfryer and a jar/sachet of ready made sauce.
My quandary is how/when to add the sauce.
Sounds simple but it dont want to mess up a pan just to heat some sticky sauce up.
I have a cunning plan which is to cook the chicken balls using a liner in the a/fryer (i use them all the time). Then pour in some sauce for the last, say, 2 minutes. In that way all the mess is contained.
NB
I won't bother with pineapple but might fry some bell peppers.
Do you think this will work? Do you have a better (mess free) idea ?
Ta

If using a jar I'd microwave the jar and pour onto balls as you serve them!

 

[raleighnut]

Personally whenever I have chicken/pork/prawn balls I dip them into the sauce as I eat each one but that is 'takeaway', never used a ready made sauce jar though.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

S&S would be more messy - but I would add a bit of water - I rinse the jar out with a bit and use that

that should stop it getting too sticky and you can re-thicken it to wards the end by taking the lid off

 

[Dave7]

If using a jar I'd microwave the jar and pour onto balls as you serve them!

Oh, good idea. That didnt occur to me.

 

[vickster]

Oh, good idea. That didnt occur to me.

Don't forget to remove the metal lid!!
Or just put in a bowl to microwave

 

[Reynard]

Suggest decanting the sauce into a small pyrex and clingfilming it if it's going in the microwave. Or use a plastic microwaveable container with a lid (leave one corner of the lid loose). Because otherwise, you'll end up having to clear up a bit of a mess.

I haven't bought a jar / pouch of sweet & sour in years. It's easy to make, as it's quite literally tomato ketchup, pineapple juice and cornflour in its most basic form.

 

[raleighnut]

Suggest decanting the sauce into a small pyrex and clingfilming it if it's going in the microwave. Or use a plastic microwaveable container with a lid (leave one corner of the lid loose). Because otherwise, you'll end up having to clear up a bit of a mess.

I haven't bought a jar / pouch of sweet & sour in years. It's easy to make, as it's quite literally tomato ketchup, pineapple juice and cornflour in its most basic form.

I use Tomato Puree, Muscavado Sugar, Vinegar, Cornflour and the Juice from a tin of Pineapple in the sauce when I cook Pork and Pineapple 'Sweet and Sour' in my Wok.