General Tso's Chicken

BeachGirl's Note:

This is my favorite Chinese stir-fry - slightly sweet and spicy hot, depending upon how many peppers you use.

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

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
• 1 tablespoon canola oil or 1 tablespoon peanut oil

MARINADE

• 4 teaspoons soy sauce
• 4 teaspoons dry sherry (or rice wine)
• 2 teaspoons chopped ginger
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil

SAUCE

• 3 dried hot chili peppers, deseeded
• 2 teaspoons finely diced orange zest or 2 teaspoons lemons, zest of
• 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 4 teaspoons soy sauce
• 2 -3 teaspoons granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil

OPTIONAL

• 3 -5 spring onions, cut in julienne strips about 2 inches long (optional)
• crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions:

1. MARINATING: Put all marinade ingredients into resealable zip plastic bag; seal and rotate to mix.
2. Cut chicken into thin bite-size strips (approximate 2"x1/4"x1"), cutting across the grain of the meat.
3. Put chicken in marinade and rotate to evenly coat chicken.
4. Marinate for 20 minutes, turning once after 10 minutes.
5. Remove chicken from marinade and drain well in colander, discarding marinade.
6. STIR-FRYING: In a hot wok or frying pan, heat the oil on high, adding half the chicken to the hot pan.
7. Stir fry about 2 minutes until chicken browns.
8. With slotted spoon, remove chicken from hot pan and set aside.
9. Repeat with remaining chicken.
10. ***If you are using (optional) spring onions, stir-fry them now for about 1 minute.
11. In hot pan, stir fry chili peppers for 10 seconds, adding a little more oil if needed.
12. FINISHING WITH SAUCE: Add sauce ingredients to hot pan and stir fry about 2-3 minutes, or until sauce is thickened.
13. Add chicken just to heat it (if using, add cooked green onions now) and toss with sauce.
14. Serve over hot white rice or fried rice.

Reviews

[Leta]

I think there may be some problems with this recipe. I followed the recipe as written, but the sauce did not thicken (in reviewing the ingredients there really is nothing in the Sauce to make it thicken), and I ended up adding about 2 Tbls of Soy Sauce to give the dish flavor, as it was very bland as written. I believe the marinade would make a good basis for chicken stir fry, but the sauce needs some adjustments.

[pattikay in L.A.]

This is spicy and wonderful! I let it marinate for more than an hour and used maybe 4 or 5 peppers for the sauce. This doesn't make a lot of sauce, so I didn't have any problem with it thickening - the cornstarch in the marinade was plenty. This went well with Golden Pineapple Rice. Thanks for posting!

[PugsAndKisses]

Overall, I thought this was very good, but my sauce didn't thicken, either. Maybe adding some corn starch would help the next time. I used a little extra lemon zest and a little extra soy, because I really like it. I also used the spring onions, and I think they really add to the dish.