General Tso's Chicken

Dear General Tso,            
      Thank you for making such tasty chicken.
                           Sincerely, Chefstress

General Tso's Sauce

Ingredients:

1 Cup Water

1 Cup Ketchup

1/4 Cup Soy Sauce

1/4 Cup Rice Wine Vinegar

1/4 Cup Hoisin

1 Tbl to 1/4 Cup Siracha (depends on how spicy you want it)

1 Tbl Sesame Oil

3 Tbl Sugar

1 Tbl Garlic (hate peeling garlic?  Simply buy 6 heads, peel them by smashing them with a saute pan, remove skin, put in food processor or ninja with 3 Tbl olive oil.  Put in Tupperware and store in freezer.  When ever you need garlic, scoop what you need out and put back in the freezer)

1 Tsp Ginger *Fresh NOT Powder!*  (See notes on how to store garlic, do the same with your extra ginger)

2 Tbl Corn Starch

Whisk all ingredients together.  Yep, that's it!

Crispy Battered Chicken

Ingredients:

3 lb Chicken Breast

1/4 Cup White Wine

1 tsp Sesame Oil

3 Tbl Soy Sauce

1 Tsp Fresh Ginger

1 Tsp Garlic

3ea Egg Whites

1 Tsp Baking Powder

1 Cup Corn Starch

Start by cleaning your chicken and cutting it into 1" cubes, place in large zip lock bag.  Next whisk together all ingredients except the baking powder and corn starch.  Pour over chicken and seal bag.

Let sit at least 20 minutes.  After the chicken has marinated add baking powder, mix bag again to insure baking powder is evenly distributed.  Add corn starch and start smooshing.  This is going to look like a gluey mess at this point. 

Drop chicken bites into a 350' fryer.  Be sure to try and get plenty of gluey coating on each piece and be sure to try and drop them in as individual pieces.  Be careful not to splash hot oil on yourself!  You can reduce slashing by dropping them close to the oil (vs 6" above oil).  If you are skilled with chop sticks, you can get authentic and use them or just use a fork/ spoon.

When the chicken is golden brown, remove from oil and drain on paper towels.  Unless you have a huge fryer you will probably need to cook the chicken in batches. 

Putting it all together:

In a large pan (preferably a wok) heat sauce over medium heat until it starts to simmer.  Whisk continuously as the corn starch will be thickening the sauce and you do not want lumps.  Once sauce has come to a full boil.  Turn off heat, add fried chicken pieces and veggies.  Toss to evenly coat.

Take 1 bunch of scallions (aka green onions) and thinly chop the green parts.  Garnish finished General Tso's with them.  Thinly chop the white parts and add them to uncooked white rice in your steamer.  Steam rice as normal. 

Serve General Tso's over your scallion rice.  Enjoy

Notes:
If you want to make this even easier simply do not batter fry the chicken, just follow the chicken cooking procedure that is in the "Chinese Please Blog"  You will save the hassle of getting the fryer out and the potential mess of the batter.  BUT you are giving up that traditional batter fried chicken that you are used to getting in take out. 

I spit my marinade between chicken and tofu tonight.  Prepare and fry the EXTRA FIRM tofu the same way you do chicken if your prefer.

I usually marinade my chicken, mix my sauce (only mix, not cook) and cut all my veggies the night before.  I find this has many benefits. 1) Dinner is on the table much quicker 2) I do not have a whining baby pulling at my leg while I have raw chicken on my hands 3) The chicken tastes better when it marinated longer 4) You can drink the rest of the bottle of wine you opened in peace

For veggies I use what ever I have on hand.  Tonight I used carrots, broccoli, mushrooms and water chestnuts.  But honestly use what you have and your family will enjoy.  Just be sure that they are steamed or sauteed before adding them.  For tips on cooking broccoli see "Eat Your Broccoli Blog"

I have resisted buying a fryer for a long time.  I finally broke down and bought a 1 liter electric fryer and I absolutely love it.  Reasons why I think smaller is better...  It was $24, only needs 1 regular size bottle of oil, heats and cools much faster, easy to store and can be plugged in on my deck so I can fry outside and avoid that "Fried Food Smell" that I hate so much!

Worried about fat intake when frying food??? I did a little test tonight.  I fried about 10-12 servings worth the food tonight.  I put a full bottle of oil into my fryer and this is what I had left after I strained and cleaned it.

About 6 Tbl short, now remember some oil was absorbed by the paper towels (-1 Tbl), some was left in the fryer and in the strainer when cleaning it (-1 Tbl) Which leaves me to believe approx 4 Tbl was actually on the food.  Now break that down by servings and you have about 1 Tsp of oil per serving.  This is really not that bad! Much better than those greasy fries you got at the drive through or the Velveeta you made mac and cheese with.  I am not saying my fried food is healthy, I am just saying spend your calories on the good for you food that matters.