I had this dish back about 1973, I believe. It was at a chinese restaurant in an Indianapolis suburb. It was also advertised as “sweet and sour chicken” but it was nothing like standard sweet and sour chicken.
Basically it had bite-sized chunks of white meat chicken, uncoated, which were dipped in a variety of things in small bowels which were served with it, including a white granular powder. It was quite flavorful, and it brought about the epiphany that turned me away from being a picky eater and into the adventurous gourmand I am now! I don’t remember what else it was served with, besides rice.
But I’ve never seen this dish again anywhere! I can’t even find it on the internet. Granted, I may be missspelling it, but after over 30 years of searching and failure, I turn to my fellow SDMB types for help.
I’m a huge fan of Chinese food, but I haven’t heard of this dish. I did a search too, and I ended up finding something called “Jar Doo Chicken Wings” or “Ja-doo chicken wings” (which seems to be a match, since “gai” is Cantonese for chicken), but it sounds more like a variant on simple soy sauce chicken than what you’re describing. I also think it is probably not a typical Chinese dish and possibly from a different culture (Korea is a possibility).
It sounds like it must’ve been good though! I hope someone does find a recipe.
