General Tso's Chicken

Time for Takeout!

This month it’s all about takeout. Chinese food is one of my absolute favorites.  It’s actually a pretty good idea to have a few takeout recipes under your belt. Not only is it cheaper to make at home, its also healthier, because you can control your ingredients. Use organic, omit msg if you choose, the works, because you have all the control.  I will be challenging myself this entire month to make recipes that rival my favorite takeout spots. And first up is the General!

The real question is, who is General Tso and why is an American Chinese dish named after him? I don’t know, but what I do know, is it’s my absolute favorite chicken dish next to chicken and broccoli in garlic sauce (In Jamaica Mallah chicken would be our equivalent to General Tso).  After making this it really got me thinking what a disservice I have been doing to myself all these years by not making General Tso more often. That is a situation that will most definitely change. Not to mention the fact that I simply must remake this for my fiancé.

I can’t believe how absolutely amazing this dish is and even more amazing how simple it is to make. Every time we go to a Chinese take-out spot in New York I’m always looking right into the kitchen to see how they stir, add sauce and fry. The wok is the end all and be all. They deep fry, sauté and cook everything in one. So that was my mission to use the one wok to do as much as I could. 

Once in Manhattan I saw a chef fry the chicken right in a wok filled with oil then transferred the golden chicken to another wok bubbling with sauce broccoli and chili peppers. So that’s exactly what I did. I deep fried the chicken in the wok, making sure to continually keep the meat turning and moving so they don’t burn, then I made the sauce in the wok and added back the amazingly crunchy chicken to the sauce. It was a really great way to have Sunday dinner. 

Ingredients (Printable recipe)

Oil to fry chicken

2 boneless chicken breasts

To Season chicken

½ teaspoon Salt

¼ teaspoon Black pepper

¼ teaspoon Paprika

¼ teaspoon Cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon Sesame oil

For Breading

1 ½ cup Flour

1 cup Corn starch

1 cup Milk

2 Eggs

Sauce

3 tablespoon Sesame oil

½ cup chopped Onion

4-5 Chili peppers

½ cup Broccoli tops

¼ cup Palm nectar

2 tablespoon Hoisin sauce

1 teaspoon Mushroom soy sauce

Instructions

• Cut the chicken breast into even 1 inch cubes
• Season chicken breast with salt, black pepper, paprika cayenne pepper and sesame oil
• In a bag combine flour and corn starch
• In a bowl whisk together the eggs and milk
• Place the seasoned chicken in the flour mixture and shake to combine evenly
• Shake off the excess flour and place the chicken breasts into the egg mixture
• Remove from the egg mixture and add back to the flour
• Heat some oil in a wok or deep frying pan
• Remove from the flour and Fry the chicken to a golden brown in the hot oil making sure to continually flip and stir the chicken in order to avoid burning
• One golden brown and crispy remove from the hot oil and set aside
• For the sauce
• In a clean wok add sesame oil
• Sauté the onion and chili peppers very quickly, add the broccoli
• Add the palm nectar, hoisin sauce, mushroom soy sauce and allow it to thicken and bubble
• Turn off the heat and add the chicken back to the sauce and completely coat each chicken breast then serve.

 Xoxo Greedygirl