Is sweet and sour chicken an authentic Thai dish?

July 6, 2013 7:31 PM

Or is it Americanized BS? The reason I ask is there seems to be a Thai "style" of doing it that differs from Chinese Sweet and Sour; THey don't bread the chicken.
posted by TigerCrane to Food & Drink (7 answers total)

There's a Thai sweet, sour, and spicy curry, kaeng som, which is occasionally made with chicken, although the more common protein is fish. In my mind, the most characteristically Thai way to make a sauce or soup with sweet and sour flavors is to use tamarind pulp for the sourness and palm sugar for the sweetness.

American Thai restaurants can vary pretty widely in authenticity, but I think the strong odds are if you order "sweet and sour chicken" in one you're going to get something pretty Americanized.
posted by strangely stunted trees at 8:01 PM on July 6, 2013 [1 favorite]

Many so-called Thai dishes are Chinese in origin ultimately, even in Thailand. But you won't find many Thais eating something resembling sweet and sour chicken -- they're more likely to have a sauce like that for dipping, on the side, with chicken that is not breaded (kai tort, fried chicken).
posted by seemoreglass at 8:28 PM on July 6, 2013

What seemoreglass said. Thais don't tend to do stir fry with a thick sauce, unless you count curries, which are more like a soup.
posted by lunasol at 10:04 PM on July 6, 2013

Some Thai restaurants translate the names of the dishes rather liberally. Some provide slightly modified Americanized Chinese dishes like orange chicken and sweet and sour chicken.

Can you describe the version of "Thai" sweet and sour chicken you've had in more detail?
posted by WasabiFlux at 10:35 PM on July 6, 2013

In Hong Kong, Chinese cooks/chefs don't 'bread' the chicken.
posted by Mister Bijou at 10:39 PM on July 6, 2013 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Yes, it's a thing. It's called "preow wan" and can be with anything - chicken, prawn, vegies only, etc. I like it with prawn best. I was introduced to it by my local Thai restaurant and the owners explained that it's "Royal Cuisine" and does not involve deep-frying, the sticky-sweet disgustingness of bad Chinese sweet & sour and uses lots of fresh vegies. (Any errors in that attributable to my memory.) The sweetness and sourness are much more subtle and it's very umami too!

Great, now I want goong preow wan.
posted by Athanassiel at 11:59 PM on July 6, 2013 [1 favorite]

I live in Thailand at the moment (it's not clear if you're here too), and yes you can get a delicious, more delicate non-deep fried version of this dish.

Thanks to Athanassiel I now know how to order it in Thai!
posted by sundaydriver at 4:43 AM on July 7, 2013 [1 favorite]