I love the Sweet Fire Chicken that is served at the chain Panda Express, and I found this Slow-Cooker recipe at another blog site: Creme de la Crumb (link). On a day when temperatures are hovering around 100, I had no interest in heating up my kitchen by turning on the oven or standing over a hot stove. I steamed some Jasmine Rice to go with this dish. I did like this dish a lot – I used only 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes, since my children were also eating and did not want them to be overwhelmed by the spices, but I think you certainly could use the full 2 teaspoons in the original recipe if you like a little kick. I think it would be closer to the original cooking it over a wok, but this is not bad! Not bad at all! I will make it again! This could easily be made ahead and popped into zip- lock bags and put in the freezer for the days when you have no time to cook. Just thaw and put in the crock pot! Now the recipe:
Slow Cooker Sweet Fire Chicken
adapted from Creme de la Crumb
Serves 6 | Cook time 4 hours
Ingredients:
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 can pineapple chunks, drained
Sauce:
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 1-2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 2 Tbsp sweet red chili sauce (I used May Ploy Sweet Chili Sauce)
- 1/2 tsp salt
Finish with:
- 4 Tbsp cold water
- 3 Tbsp corn starch
Instructions:
Place a crock pot liner in your slow cooker. (This is something I only recently discovered and love the ease of clean up).
Put the diced chicken breast, red bell pepper pieces and pineapple in the slow cooker.
In a medium bowl, combine the sauce ingredients and pour into the chicken, stir. Cover with a lid and turn on to high for 4 hours. 30 minutes before serving, combine the cold water and cornstarch and pour over the chicken. Cover and cook on high for 30 minutes. Stir and serve over steamed rice.
Thank you Creme de la Crumb for this wonderful recipe. It is an instant favorite already!
I discovered May Ploy Chili Sauce on a family vacation to Hawaii and was pleased to discover it for sale in my local supermarket – it may be in your Asian ingredients section of your supermarket.
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