Spiced Chicken Fingers with Sweet-Sour Sauce

Ingredients

• Canola oil, to cook
• 1 small onion, roughly diced
• 1/2 tablespoon minced ginger
• 1 medium carrot, peeled, roughly diced
• 1 small pineapple, peeled, roughly diced
• 2 cups pineapple juice
• 1/2 cup rice vinegar
• 2 cups rice flour
• 1/2 tablespoon paprika
• 1/4 tablespoon cayenne
• 2 tablespoons white sesame seeds
• 1 quart cold soda water
• 4 single chicken breasts, skinless, 3 by 1/2 by 1/2-inch strips
• Salt, to taste

Directions

In a hot sauce pot coated with oil, saute the onions, ginger and carrots until soft, about 8 minutes. Season and add the pineapple, juice and vinegar. Cook until pineapple is soft, about 5 minutes. Puree mixture and check for seasoning. In another sauce pot filled 1/3 full of oil, heat to 350 degrees. In a bowl, mix together the flour, paprika, cayenne and sesame seeds. Whisk in the soda until a pancake batter consistency is achieved. Dip the chicken fingers individually in the batter and fry until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Season with salt.

PLATING Serve the soup in a small bowl on the same plate as a pile of mac-n-cheese. Place fingers on a plate around a small bowl of dipping sauce.

Drink Suggestion: Fresh Orange Juice, Cranberry Juice, Limes and Club Soda for house made spritzers.