General Tso’s Chicken

I’ll admit it. I’m a sucker for Chinese Takeout!

I know its gross, but it just tastes so good doesn’t it?

My favourite order is Vegetable Lo Mein noodles and General Tso’s Chicken with its delicious fried chicken pieces coated in a sticky sweet, salty and slightly spicy sauce.

I’m not promising that I won’t ever order Chinese again, but I have finally nailed a pretty good homemade version of General Tso’s Chicken that hits the spot and can take care of most of my takeout cravings!

It took five tries and combining ingredients from a few different versions of the recipe to settle on the recipe – first I needed to get the flavour right and then figure out how to achieve the flavour while still keeping it simple enough for a weekday dinner.

The only ingredient included here that you might not have in the pantry is dried chillies, but you can always substitute with chilli flakes or even just a dash of cayenne.

I serve it on top of a simple noodle dish with a few veggies and a quick sauce of soy sauce, hoisin and chicken stock thickened slightly with a corn starch slurry. It’s also great with a side of rice.

So, the next time you’re craving takeout, give this a try instead! It’ll leave your taste buds satisfied but with much less sodium and a but more cash in your wallet!

Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS (Serves 4):

CANOLA OIL – Enough for a shallow fry

2 LARGE CHICKEN BREASTS

2 EGGS

4 TBSP CORN STARCH

For the Sauce:

3/4 CUP CHICKEN STOCK

4 TBSP SOY SAUCE

1/3 CUP BROWN SUGAR

1 TBSP SESAME OIL

1 + 1/2 TBSP CORN STARCH

2 DRIED RED CHILLIES

4 CLOVES GARLIC FINELY CHOPPED

1 TBSP MINCED GINGER

Garnish:

4 GREEN ONIONS (SCALLIONS) SLICED

DIRECTIONS:

Whisk the eggs and corn starch in a small bowl.  Cut the chicken breasts into 1 inch pieces and toss in the egg and corn starch mixture to coat.

Heat the oil in a deep pot. Fry the chicken pieces until golden, remove and set on a paper towel to cool.

Add all the sauce ingredients to a saucepan over medium heat. Stir until thickened then remove from heat and remove the dried chillies.

Toss the chicken in the sauce while still warm and then garnish with sliced green onions.

Prep Time: 10 min

Cooking Time: 20 min