General Tso’s Chicken

General Tso’s Chicken. “Tso” is pronounced “sow”. The same family favorite from your favorite Chinese restaurant, only now you’re the chef.

General Tso’s Chicken

Sauce

• 2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
• 2 teaspoons chicken bouillon or Chicken Better Than Bouillon
• 1 tablespoon red or white wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons Hoisin sauce
• 4 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
• 1 1/3 cup brown sugar (or honey)
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 6 cloves fresh garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon crushed red peppers or a few dried whole red chili peppers (for a spicier dish)
• 1/4  teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4  teaspoon coarse ground pepper

Place all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Whisk until cornstarch is dissolved. Turn heat to medium-high after everything has been whisked together. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for a couple of minutes while continuing to whisk until the sauce has thickened.

Keep warm until ready to pour over fried tempura chicken.

Breaded Chicken

• 4 cups canola, peanut, or vegetable oil (for frying)
• 1 cup flour
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, plus more for sprinkling
• 10 ounces club soda, chilled

Preheat oil for frying in a deep fryer to 375°F. If you’d rather, you can heat it in a heavy-duty pan and use a thermometer.

Line a baking sheet with a few layers of paper towels to rest your fried items on after frying so excess oil will drain onto the paper towels.

Pat food dry with paper towels if it is wet. This will allow the tempura to stick to it better.

Place dry ingredients in a medium-large bowl and whisk until well combined.

Pour the club soda into the dry ingredients. Gently whisk together just until combined yet lumpy. Don’t overmix. Allow tempura mixture to sit while oil finishes heating up.

When frying oil reaches 375°F, coat food with tempura mixture and carefully place in fryer. Do not crowd the fryer because if you do, your battered pieces will stick together during cooking or will cool down your oil too much. Oil that has cooled down too much will make for soggy breading rather than a lovely crunchy coating.

Cook for three minutes on each side. Use a utensil that’s safe in hot oil to move them around a bit during the cooking process so they are cooked on all sides. The coating should be a beautiful golden brown. Place them on the baking sheet and sprinkle with sea salt right away.

Tempura is optional. This recipe is just as delicious without the tempura breading. Just cook chicken and stir it into General Tso’s sauce.