Can someone give me the recipe for General Tso's Chicken?!


Question: Yum....this is my favorite type of chicken to order from a Chinese restaurant.

Ingredients:

***Sauce:***
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 1/2 teaspoon minced ginger root
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup cooking wine
1 1/2 cup hot chicken broth
1 teaspoon monosodium glutamate (optional)


***Meat:***
3 pounds deboned dark chicken meat, cut into large chunks
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 egg
1 cup cornstarch
Vegetable oil for deep-frying
2 cups sliced green onions
16 small dried hot peppers


Directions:

Mix 1/2 cup cornstarch with water. Add garlic, ginger, sugar, 1/2 cup soy sauce, vinegar, wine, chicken broth and MSG (if desired). Stir until sugar dissolves. Refrigerate until needed. In separate bowl, mix chicken, 1/4 cup soy sauce and white pepper. Stir in egg. Add 1 cup cornstarch and mix until chicken pieces are coated evenly. Add cup of vegetable oil to help separate chicken pieces. Divide chicken into small quantities and deep-fry at 350 degrees until crispy. Drain on paper towels. Place a small amount of oil in wok and heat until wok is hot. Add onions and peppers and stir-fry briefly. Stir sauce and add to wok. Place chicken in sauce and cook until sauce thickens.


Answers: Yum....this is my favorite type of chicken to order from a Chinese restaurant.

Ingredients:

***Sauce:***
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 1/2 teaspoon minced ginger root
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup cooking wine
1 1/2 cup hot chicken broth
1 teaspoon monosodium glutamate (optional)


***Meat:***
3 pounds deboned dark chicken meat, cut into large chunks
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 egg
1 cup cornstarch
Vegetable oil for deep-frying
2 cups sliced green onions
16 small dried hot peppers


Directions:

Mix 1/2 cup cornstarch with water. Add garlic, ginger, sugar, 1/2 cup soy sauce, vinegar, wine, chicken broth and MSG (if desired). Stir until sugar dissolves. Refrigerate until needed. In separate bowl, mix chicken, 1/4 cup soy sauce and white pepper. Stir in egg. Add 1 cup cornstarch and mix until chicken pieces are coated evenly. Add cup of vegetable oil to help separate chicken pieces. Divide chicken into small quantities and deep-fry at 350 degrees until crispy. Drain on paper towels. Place a small amount of oil in wok and heat until wok is hot. Add onions and peppers and stir-fry briefly. Stir sauce and add to wok. Place chicken in sauce and cook until sauce thickens.

http://www.io.com/~sjohn/food3.htm

http://www.asiarecipe.com/search/search....

Excellent website for most cultures

General Tso's Chicken

1 lb. boneless chicken thighs or breast meat, fat and skin removed
1/3 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
Oil for frying (peanut works best, but corn or canola can also be used)

In a large bowl, thoroughly blend the cornstarch and the eggs. Add chicken cubes and mix well. In either a deep-fryer or a large pot, heat oil to 350 degrees and fry the chicken pieces in small batches until golden and fully cooked throughout. Set aside.

Sauce

In a saucepan, mix the following ingredients:
2 tsp cornstarch
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp sugar (I prefer brown, but white is fine too)
2 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp minced ginger
freshly ground pepper to taste
1 tbsp crushed red chili pepper
* Note: the heat from the chili peppers comes out as the mixture cooks. You can use more or less depending on your personal taste.

Cook on medium heat until mixture begins to thicken, then add chicken pieces. I like to finish it off on a baking sheet in the oven for five minutes so it caramelizes a bit, but you can serve it at this point if you want to skip that step.

Serve with rice and steamed or stir-fried vegetables of your choice.

It's not really a Chinese dish, but it's nevertheless one of the most popular dishes at Chinese restaurants here where I live, and elsewhere. General Tso's Chicken is very inexpensive to make, but some restaurants charge rather a lot for it, usually putting it with "Chef's Specialities" and the like on the menu, rather than with the ordinary chicken dishes. No fair! This is how to make it.

1 lb chicken thighs, boned and cubed
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup and 2 tsp cornstarch
5 dried pepper pods
1-1/2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp rice wine
3 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp soy sauce
In a large bowl, thoroughly blend the 1/2 cup of cornstarch and the eggs; add the chicken and toss to coat. If the mixture bonds too well, add some vegetable oil to separate the pieces.

In a small bowl, prepare the sauce mixture by combining the 2 tsp cornstarch with the wine, vinegar, sugar and soy sauce.

First-Stage Frying: Heat 1-2 inches of peanut oil in a wok to medium-high heat (350-400o). Fry the chicken in small batches, just long enough to cook the chicken through. Remove the chicken to absorbent paper and allow to stand (this step can be performed well in advance, along with the sauce mixture, with both refrigerated).

Second-Stage Frying: Leave a tablespoon or two of the oil in the wok. Add the pepper pods to the oil and stir-fry briefly, awakening the aroma but not burning them. Return the chicken to the wok and stir-fry until the pieces are crispy brown.

The General's Favorite Sauce: Add the sauce-mixture to the wok, tossing over the heat until the sauce caramelizes into a glaze (1-2 minutes). Serve immediately. Serves 4, along with steamed broccoli and rice.

Variations and Substitutions

Sherry substitutes well for the rice wine, but avoid "cooking sherry" if you can. Sugar in the sauce ranges from as little as a few teaspoons to a full half-cup in some recipes. Soy sauce, too, varies dramatically, rising as high as double that listed above. Nearly any sort of vinegar can be used. In some recipes, a tablespoon of soy sauce is added to the egg-and-cornstarch blend. In others, the chicken itself is marinated before being used, in either soy, wine, vinegar, or some combination of those.

Many recipes include a much lighter egg-and-cornstarch coating for the chicken (about 2 tbsp of starch and two eggs). I prefer the heavier coating; adjust to taste.

Optional Sauce Ingredients: A grind of fresh black pepper, a teaspoon of sesame oil, a teaspoon of MSG, a clove or two of garlic, a couple of fresh chopped scallions or green onions, 1-2 teaspoons of Chinese chili sauce, fresh ginger, a teaspoon of hoisin sauce, the minced rind of an orange, and many other items may be added to the sauce. Any vegetal additions should be added to the oil along with the chicken (the ginger can burn easily - add it last).

Light Tso Sauce: The traditional sauce for General Tso's is a heavy, spicy glaze, different from the lighter broth-based sauces found on most other Chinese dishes. Some prefer a lighter Tso sauce, too, and this can be achieved by tripling the cornstarch in the sauce and adding a half-cup of fluid. The "fluid" can be chicken broth, water, or even fruit juice (both orange and pineapple have been used). Cook the sauce only 'til it thickens, instead of waiting for a glaze. This version of the sauce is actually more common in the local restaurants; if you're a Tso fan, it might be what you're used to.

History

General Zou Zong-Tang was a general of the Qing (Manchu) Dynasty of China, responsible for supressing Muslim uprisings. His name was used to frighten Muslim children for centuries after his death. It is questionable whether or not the General (or his quartermaster) actually invented General Tso's Chicken . . . it seems more likely to have been the invention of Taiwanese immigrants to the United States and Europe, and then (according to some folks who've done some poking into that side of the history) popularized at a New York restaurant in the 1970s. Alternate spellings include General Cho, General Zo, General Zhou, General Jo, and General Tzo. It's pronounced "Djo," with the tongue hard against teeth.

Notes

The basis for this recipe was compiled from over forty different versions of the dish, combining the best aspects of each, averaging sauce ratios, and simplifying the basic dish to it's core ingredients.





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