Wednesday, September 19, 2007

General Tso's Chicken



EDITED October 30, 2008:
I found another recipe for this that is even better! The cornstarch on this one did not make the sauce as "caramel-ly" as it should be. I will be posting that soon!

General Tso’s Chicken (my style!)
It is not as sweet and crispy as the restaurant style, but it is yummy good. The sauce will turn very thick when it cools, so make sure you eat it right away, add water if you reheat, or even better, don’t have any leftovers!

SAUCE
1/2 c. cornstarch
1/4 c. water
2 tsp. minced garlic (or powder)
1 1/2 tsp. minced ginger (or powder)
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. soy sauce
1/4 c. white vinegar
1/4 c. cooking wine
1 1/2 c. chicken broth (or 1 cube buillon + water)
5-8 small hot red chili peppers (dried or fresh), cut in half
1 c. sliced green onions


CHICKEN
3 lb. Chicken breast in pcs.
1/4 c. soy sauce
1 tsp pepper
1 egg
1 c. cornstarch

-Mix all sauce ingredients except peppers and onions. Set aside.
-Mix chicken + soy sauce + pepper + egg+ cornstarch. Stir well until chicken is evenly coated.
-deep fry chicken pcs until crispy brown*. Drain on paper towels and set aside.
-On a pan with hot oil (about 3 tbsp.), stir fry the peppers and onions for a minute. (reserve some onions for garnish)
-add the sauce mixture (make sure the ingredients all well stirred).
-Stir sauce until it thickens (it gets darker too)
-add chicken pcs.
-Garnish with sliced green onions on top. Serve over white rice.

*you can skip the fried chicken part if you want to be somewhat healthier. Just cook the seasoned chicken on a pan with a bit of oil until done.