Obviously you have to make sweet and sour sauce to go with it. Not only was my boss headed out of town for the week, but she was kind enough to leave me with her leftover pineapple. Needing to come up with a way to use a large quantity of soon-to-spoil fruity goodness, I turned to my wok for inspiration.

Recipe and more inspiring photos just a click away…

Had I known how easy it would be to make sweet and sour sauce, I would have tried this years ago.

Combine 2 1/2 t Cornstarch with 1/4 C water. After combined, stir in 3/4 C more water. Also add: 4 T white sugar, 5 T brown sugar, and 4 T ketchup. Set this mixture aside.

Heat 1 t sesame oil in large saucepan. [The recipe I used also called for green onions and fresh ginger. I did not have these in the house and it was way too cold to go outside. So I put in a couple cloves of fresh garlic instead.] Add 1/2 T dry sherry wine [or any red wine you have on hand -- I used a Pinotage] and 1/4 t red pepper flakes. Cook for about 1 minute.

Re-stir cornstarch/sugar/ketchup mixture and add to saucepan. Reduce heat and stir constantly as the mixture cooks.

In a separate pan, stir fry chunks of pineapple and green pepper in about 1/4 T sesame oil. Set aside after 2 minutes.

Add chicken to the pan and cook until almost cooked through. Add pineapple, green peppers and sweet/sour sauce to the wok. Leave on heat until bubbling!

Serve with rice — white or brown. Depending on how healthy you feel.

On my next attempt at this recipe, I would: add red onion, more red pepper flakes, and – shockingly – more GARLIC!!