General Tso's Chicken (Tso Chung Gai)

Sue Lau's Note:

A Chinese restaurant favorite. My personal favorite version. :)

• Total Time: 30 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

For the Chicken

• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 pinch black pepper
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1 inch cubes

For the Sauce

• 2 1/2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• 3 teaspoons sugar
• 3 teaspoons chinese rice wine vinegar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dry sherry

For the Rest

• peanut oil
• cornstarch, for dusting
• 8 small dried hot chili peppers
• 1/4 cup finely sliced green onion
• 4 cups broccoli florets, steamed

Directions:

1. Mix together egg, salt, black pepper, and cornstarch in a bowl.
2. Add the chicken cubes; mix to coat, and marinate for at least 15 minutes.
3. In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, garlic, ginger,hoisin sauce, sugar, rice wine vinegar, and sherry for the sauce; reserve.
4. Heat wok over high heat for a minute or so; add about 3 1/2-4 cups of peanut oil to wok, and heat to 350 degrees F.
5. With tongs, remove chicken cubes individually from bowl, dust with 1 tbsp. cornstarch, shaking off excess, and place in the hot oil.
6. Deep-fry chicken pieces for 1 1/2-2 minutes, until browned and crisp.
7. turn off heat, and remove chicken with a wire strainer and drain over a bowl.
8. Pour off all but 1 1/2 tbsp. of the oil from the wok.
9. Heat the wok over high heat for 20-30 seconds; add the chilies and stir-fry for 15-20 seconds, then add the green onions, cooking for 30 seconds more.
10. Add the chicken and cook, stirring, for 1 minute; remove all from wok and set aside.
11. Stir sauce mixture into wok,stirring well, until sauce thickens into a nice glaze
12. add chicken and chilis/onions back into the wok, stirring until everything is well coated, about 1 1/2-2 minutes.
13. Place on platter; and garnish with steamed broccoli florets.
14. Serve with rice.

Reviews

[TheWrays]

FABULOUS. Worth the effort, though not as easy as a 20-min prep recipe may seem. Set your kitchen up like a kitchen show, with all the ingredients ready beforehand and you'll be ready to wok and roll! Doubel the sauce recipe and you'll be evn happier.

[Pets'R'us]

What a fantastic recipe, this was so good my husband will not take me out to a Chinese restaurant anymore!!!! We had this in restaurants but I thought this was better. With many Chinese dishes I don't achieve "that restaurant taste" I did with this one!! Worth the effort, thank you so much for posting this.

[mmm29]

We LOVED this dish. It is just as good as the General's Chicken we get from our favorite local Chinese restaurant. Yum! Yum! : ) mmm29