Mandarin Chicken

I have been craving Chinese food so much lately. I don't know if this is just me, but do you ever find that you crave Chinese food even more the day after you have it. This is why I always stick to the cardinal rule of Chinese food: "Make sure you have leftovers!!" Poor Brandon, everyday I ask him "do you want Mandarin Chicken for dinner?" He usually responds with "Didn't we just have that a couple days ago?" Yep, pretty much.
By the way, I had never heard of Mandarin Chicken until I moved to Idaho. So, for those of you who are a little lost, Mandarin Chicken is essentially Sweet and Sour chicken. The only differences I can come up with are: 1. It isn't served with pineapple, green peppers, etc. Just sauce and chicken. 2. The chicken is battered and fried and then cut in strips, instead of being cut into bite sized pieces before being battered and fried. But it is essentially sweet and sour chicken.

Ingredients:

4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded flat (1/4-1/2 inch thick)
2 eggs
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 - 1/2 cup cornstarch
oil for frying
1/2 cup ketchup
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup vinegar
1/4 cup water
1/8 cup soy sauce
1-2 Tbs cornstarch (depending on how thick you want your sauce)

Directions:

In a small bowl (I use a pie pan) combine eggs and garlic powder. Dredge chicken first in egg mixture and then in cornstarch (I put the cornstarch in a pie pan as well, makes for easy dredging). Heat 1 inch of oil in a large skillet. Fry chicken on both sides until golden in color. (Usually about a couple minutes per side) Depending on the thickness of your chicken, either transfer it to a wire rack to drain (if it is completely cooked) or place on a wire rack topped baking sheet and place in a 325* oven to cook the remainder of the way.
To make your sauce: combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Whisk well. Heat on medium heat until sugar is dissolved and sauce has thickened, stirring occasionally. (The sauce usually needs to boil for about 1-2 minutes to thicken up)
Serve chicken an sauce with rice.

Extra sauce keeps well in a mason jar in the fridge. (well a pint jar) However, we aren't sure how long it will keep. It doesn't usually last longer than a week at our house...