General Tso's Chicken
General Tso's chicken is a Chinese-American dish hugely popular in Western Chinese restaurants, especially in North America. It is made of fried chicken pieces coated in a sweet, gently spicy sauce.The sauce is usually built on soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and chillies, sometimes with a little garlic or ginger. The dish is often served with white rice and vegetables such as broccoli. Despite its name, it has no direct connection to the Chinese general Zuo Zongtang (or Tso), a Qing dynasty commander, and its exact origin remains unclear.
Ingrédients
- 2 chicken breasts
- Garlic, ginger, spring onions, red chilli
- 2 egg whites
- 180 g chicken stock
- 1 tbsp light and dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 0.5 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 0.5 tsp potato starch or cornflour
- 30 g flour
- 50 g caster sugar
- White pepper
- 1.5 tbsp white vinegar
- 3 tbsp Shaoxing wine
Instructions
Chicken
- Tap the meat with the flat of the knife to tenderise the chicken a little
- Cut the chicken into fairly rough pieces
- Transfer the pieces to a bowl
- Season with salt, white pepper and a splash of Shaoxing wine, then mix
- Add the egg whites (egg white is what keeps the meat tender)
- Add the bicarbonate of soda, the starch and the flour, then mix
- Add water if the mixture is too dry, and more starch if it is too runny
- Add a tablespoon of oil and mix
- Set aside
Sauce
- In a bowl combine the chicken stock, the soy sauces, the oyster sauce, the Shaoxing wine and a little starch to thicken the sauce. Stir well so the starch dissolves properly
- Then add the red chilli
Frying
- Time to fry, heat the oil to 160°C
- Fry until the chicken turns golden
- Lift the pieces out and let them rest for 10 minutes
- Fry a second time until the pieces are deeply golden
- Lift the pieces out and set aside
- In a pan, heat some oil and add a garlic clove, chopped spring onions and ginger.
- Pour in the sauce
- Wait for the sauce to thicken, then add the chicken
- Toss the chicken thoroughly in the sauce and serve.