General Tso's chicken

Gluten free! (If you use the right ingredients.) This is my attempt to emulate the style of certain restaurants in the NY/PA/NJ area. It is bold with lots of umami, sweetness, and spice. Ingredients aren't all super traditional — it's what I keep in my kitchen.

Not deep fried! I fucking hate deep frying.

Yields about 6 smaller servings, or 4 generous ones.

Prepare aromatic ingredients in a bowl:

• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 tsp. fresh ginger, minced (don't be tempted to use too much, can overpower)
• 10 scallions, minced (save dark green parts for garnish)
• 6 to 8 dried Árbol chilies
• About one segment of a red bell pepper, cut into strips, totally optional (sometimes I'm in the mood for this and sometimes I'm not)

Prepare chicken:

• 20 oz (about two) chicken breast, cut into bite-size chunks
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 egg
• 2 Tbsp. cornstarch
• 6 Tbsp. rice flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder

Prepare sauce:

• 4 Tbsp. light ("normal") soy sauce, use gluten free to maintain GF
• 2 tsp. dark soy sauce/tamari (this is usually GF, but double check)
• 6 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 2⅔ Tbsp. rice vinegar, seasoned or unseasoned
• 2 Tbsp. ketchup
• ½ tsp. white pepper
• ½ tsp. MSG
• Generous dash fish sauce
• 1½ tsp. sambal oelek
• 1 tsp. sesame oil

Put a couple tablespoons of oil in a frying pan and shallow-fry the chicken in it. Be very cautious not to overcook the chicken breast — if you take it out even a bit underdone, it'll finish in the sauce. Set aside.

Add a bit more oil to the pan if the chicken absorbed it all. Toss in the dried chilies and cook them in the hot oil until you've pepper sprayed your nasal passages. They should be blackened in spots. (Maybe try making this outside!) Taking them this far is pretty important to the flavor. With the oil still hot, toss in the rest of the aromatics and stir them around on high heat until very slightly singed. Cool it all off by pouring in the sauce, then reduce heat. Let the sauce simmer for a few minutes.

Mix into a slurry:

• 2 tsp. cornstarch
• 1 Tbsp. water

Add this slurry to the sauce while stirring, and continue to stir gently until the slurry goes clear and the sauce thickens. Add the chicken and cook until heated through.

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Last modified: Wed Jun 22 19:45:03 MDT 2022. Converted from recipes/gen_tsos.md.
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