General Tso's Chicken

Most Chinese restaurants here in America don't serve traditional Chinese food - they serve Chinese-American food, which is a fairly different type of cuisine that you wouldn't find in China. Chinese-American cuisine are Chinese-style recipes that have been adapted to suit American tastes: lots of breaded, fried meat and sticky, sweet sauces.

I don't eat Chinese-American very often, but of those dishes, General Tso's Chicken is probably my favorite and is a nice dish to have every now and then.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup chicken stock
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp white vinegar
• 1 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp corn starch
• 1 bunch green onions, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 slices ginger (about an equal amount as the garlic), minced
• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 1 egg
• Flour for breading (about 1 cup)
• 3 cups and 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 tsp sesame seeds (optional)

Directions

1. Combine the chicken stock, sugar, white vinegar, hoisin sauce, sesame oil, soy sauce, and corn starch to make the sauce. Set aside for now.
2. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces.
3. Crack the egg over the chicken, and combine with chopsticks until the chicken is thoroughly coated with egg.
4. Heat 3 cups of oil in a pot on medium high.
5. While the oil is heating, batter the chicken in flour.
   • Try not to stack the battered chicken to keep the pieces from sticking to each other.
6. By this point, your oil should be close to ready to deep fry. You want the temperature to be 375-400 F. If you don't have a thermometer, you can drop a tiny pinch of flour into the oil to see if it boils.
7. Fry the chicken pieces in oil until golden brown.
   • It's best to work in small batches. If you overcrowd the pot, the chicken will stick to each other and won't fry evenly.
   • Stir the chicken pieces occasionally to keep them from sticking and help them fry evenly.
8. Let the chicken dry on paper towels after you've fried them.
9. In a wok, heat 2 tbsp of cooking oil on high. When the oil is hot, stir fry the ginger, garlic, and onions for about 1 minute, until fragrant.
10. Add the sauce mix and cook until the sauce is bubbling and thickened.
11. Add the chicken and stir fry until the chicken is hot and evenly coated with sauce.
12. Remove from heat and serve. Top with sesame seeds (optional).