General Tso Chicken

I can consider myself as a meat lover. Chicken is one of the meat I love to cook with. It is easy to prepare.

After cooking this dish for dinner, I am sold. It is one of my favourite chicken dish. 

Try cooking them at home. Its alot cheaper than having it at a restaurant. Yes it may be fuss free to have at the restaurants but when you can cook at home, you can control the oil. I tend to use minimal oil when cooking, its healthier. And I get to choose the meat part I prefer, removing the skins, bones and fats before cooking them. 

This dish may be a little tedious because of the deep frying but its worthwhile. With the sticky tangy taste, it goes well with a steamed white rice. 

For those who prefer chicken breast, feel free to replace the chicken thighs. I am biased towards chicken thighs! So pardon me here. :P

For those who prefer spicier food, you can increase the number of dried chilies. Well, I have added chili padi (bird's eye chili). Hot & spicy!!!

Here is the recipe, General Tso Chicken

Ingredients

4 to 5 pieces of boneless chicken thigh, cut into bite size

1/2 tbsp hua tiao/shaoxing wine

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup cornstarch

1 tbsp oil

4 slices of peeled ginger (finely minced)

1 garlic clove (finely minced)

5 dried red chilies (rinsed and seeds removed)

2 stalks of scallion or spring onion for garnish

Sauce

3 tbsp of chinese rice vinegar

2 1/2 tbsp of soy sauce

1/2 tbsp of dark soy sauce (for colouring)

1 tsp of hoisin sauce

1/4 cup of water

2 1/2 tbsp of sugar

1/2 tbsp of chinese wine

1 tbsp of cornstarch (for thickening)

Method

Marinate the chicken meat with chinese wine and salt for 15 mins. Mix all the ingredients for the Sauce in a small bowl. Set aside.

Coat the chicken pieces generously with the 1/2 cup of cornstarch.

Heat up the oil for deep frying. Deep fry the chicken until they turn light golden brown.

Dish out with a strainer. To remove those excess oil, lay the chicken pieces on a dish lined with paper towels.

Heat up another work with 1 tbsp of oil. Add the minced ginger, garlic and dried chilies in and stir fry until there is a spicy fragrant.

Pour the Sauce into the wok. When the sauce boils and thickens, add in the chicken.

Stir and combine them well with the sauce.

Add in the scallion and stir a few times.

Dish out and serve immediately.