Wanchai Ferry Sweet and Sour

As you all know, I've been dreading this one. Nothing in the Asian category of sweet and sour appeals to me, usually. Well, okay. I usually find them completely disgusting. So it was with much trepidation that I took out the chicken and made this (at P's request).

Heart in my throat, I made the rice and cut the chicken into little bits. I fried the chicken in the cornstarch mixture (which smelled amazing, btw). Then I cut open the sauce packet. To my delighted surprise, it was not bright red or orange. This was the first sign of hope that I was not going to be icked out when I ate the food. P was excited, and played a video game while he waited to taste it.

I mixed it all together and finished heating the sauce and pineapple/water chestnut mixture through. It actually started to smell... appetizing. My mouth watered a bit. When it was heated through, I put a huge portion (half) into P's bowl and brought it to him. For myself, I got out a plate, and a jar of rice seasoning. I mounded up rice on my plate, then off in a corner, isolated from the rice, I dished up a little bit of the sweet and sour mixture. Rice seasoning tucked under my arm (y'know... in case the sweet and sour was gross, I could just eat rice for dinner and pass the rest of the food off onto P), I wandered toward the living room (we eat in the living room). I dipped a finger into the mixture and tasted it. Then I stopped and walked back to the kitchen. Shockingly, this wasn't gross. It was actually... good? I didn't know yet.

I put the rice seasoning back in the spice cabinet and put some more of the sweet and sour on that part of the plate. My first impression was that it wasn't cloyingly sweet, and had enough vinegar to produce a proper tang. With a backward glance at the rice seasoning (hey, I'm just being honest here), I went back to the living room with my plate of increased food portion.

I sat down and took a bite. Ouch! It was a little hotter than I realised. P said the same. We settled in and waited for it to cool off a bit. Then we ate. P thought it was absolutely delicious. He ate his up very quickly. I ate mine more slowly. The sweetness was really only hinted at. The vinegar was stronger, making it much tastier. I decided I liked it. It was actually pretty good. The sauce wasn't super-viscous, just as the other sauces weren't. I ate most of my food. Eventually, it did become a little too sweet for me, so I stopped eating. At the end of the meal, I felt satisfied and well-fed, as well as surprised that a sweet and sour ANYTHING existed that I enjoyed. Good job, Wanchai Ferry!

So yes. I recommend this. Even more so to those who're lovers of sweet and sour sauce.