The Cayenne Addiction Deepens

be careful frying the peppers, i made the mistake of putting some thai peppers in the wok for a half minute too long when the phone rang last year,it smoked up and burnt my lungs and i couldnt take a full breath of air for a couple days. gotta love hot peppers

are you making the general tso from scratch or using a sauce, tried a few recipes but they didnt compare to what im used to, its general gau in this area. i really smogged the kitchen with the pepper smoke last time, someday im buying a hood for over the range

Here is one method. Also the Iron Chef has a General Tso Marinade/glaze in a bottle


http://www.ironchefproducts.com/



Chicken, Thighs, General Tso's

The restaurant favorite is based on an authentic Hunan dish that translates roughly as "ancestor meeting place chicken." If you like, you can thicken the sauce by whisking 2 teaspoons cornstarch in with the other sauce ingredients. For more sauce, increase the sauce ingredients by 1/2 (3 tablespoons dark soy sauce, 1 1/2 tablespoons rice wine, etc).


INGREDIENTS:
1 lb chicken thighs, boneless
1 Tbs light soy sauce
1 egg, lightly beaten
freshly ground black or white pepper, to taste
Cornstarch, as needed
*****Sauce*****
2 Tbs dark soy sauce
1 Tbs rice vinegar
2 tsp Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
1 Tbs granulated sugar
3 Tbs chicken broth or water
1 Tbs minced ginger
2 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp cornstarch for thickening sauce, optional
Other:
3 green onions (spring onions, scallions)
5 to 10 small dried red chilli peppers, according to taste
3 – 4 cups oil for deep-frying and stir-frying, as needed




Procedure:
1 Cut the chicken into 1-inch cubes. Combine the chicken cubes with the egg, soy sauce, and pepper. Add enough cornstarch to nicely coat the chicken, using cooking chopsticks or your fingers to mix it in.
2 Combine the sauce ingredients in a bowl, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Set aside. Thinly slice the green onions.
3 Heat the oil in a wok to between 350 and 360 degrees Fahrenheit (175 - 180 degrees Celsius). Drop the chicken cubes into the hot oil, a few pieces at a time, and deep-fry until crispy (3 to 4 minutes). Remove the chicken cubes and drain on paper towels.
4 Drain and clean out the wok. Heat 2 tablespoons oil. When the oil is hot, add the sliced green onions and the dried chili peppers. Stir-fry until aromatic (about 30 seconds).
5 Add the deep-fried chicken cubes back into the wok. Stir-fry until the chicken cubes are browned (about 1 minute).
6 Push the chicken up to the sides of the wok. Give the sauce a quick restir and add into the middle of the wok. If you added cornstarch to the sauce, stir it continually for 1 - 2 minutes to thicken.
7 Mix the sauce with the chicken. Cook and stir for another 2 minutes, stirring, until the chicken is nicely coated with the sauce. Serve immediately.


Yield: 3 to 4

Recipe Type
Main Dish, Poultry

Recipe Source
Author: Rhonda Parkinson,Your Guide to Chinese Cuisine.

Source: Rhonda Parkinson, 2007/03/07

http://chinesefood.about.com/od/poultryreceo/r/generaltso.htm?nl=1

From scratch, its my favorite dish. I mix egg and cornstarch together in a bowl and toss in bite sized pieces of chicken thighs. I cook the chicken in the deep fryer until crisp then keep them warm on a plate in the oven. In a hot wok I put a tbs of oil, some minced garlic and ginger and five or six dried japon peppers that have been broken in half and the seeds shaken out. When the peppers blacken I add the sauce, chicken and some scallions. As soon as the sauce boils it will turn black and thicken. I serve it over steamed rice. -RP

Sauce

4 tsp cornstarch
4 tsp sugar
4 tsp rice vinegar
6 Tbs soy sauce
1/2 C chicken broth
1/4 C marsala