Not General Tso's chicken

Boilermaker Ben

I'm a fan of General Tso's chicken. I know it's an american creation, and not authentic chinese, but I just don't care. Nearby, there's a chinese restaurant that serves a particularly good version under the name "Governor's chicken". It's not too sweet like some other restaurants' versions.

I'm on a quest to replicate their recipe, or at least get close. So far, I haven't come remotely close. The latest attempt was Emeril's recipe.

My new tools...welding gloves...they're nice and clean here, but after one use, got junked up along the knuckles by the soot inside the egg. Oh well.


The "mise"


My first time deep frying in the wok on the egg...in goes the chicken


golden fried deliciousness


broccoli and bamboo


peppers got added first, then the aromatics


then the sauce


then the chicken goes back in


and ready to serve


The verdict: It's good, but it sure ain't General Tso's chicken. At least, not like anything I've had in any restaurants around here. On the positive side, it wasn't sweet at all, but the flavor wasn't the same as what I'm used to in General's chicken.

I've never had luck batter-frying chicken in chinese recipes. This is the second or third time I've tried, and the breading is never thick enough. The technique is always to marinate the chicken in a corn starch batter, and then fry. I stir up the chicken right before frying, to re-distribute the corn starch (which always sinks to the bottom of the bowl), but it seems like there's never enough batter. The chicken pieces fry up nice and golden, but the crispy outer layer is super-thin, and never holds up to the sauce. I wonder if I should add a little more starch to thicken it up a bit?

Well, I've got more General Tso's recipes stashed away to test. One day I'll find what I'm looking for. At least the process of testing is delicious!

loco_engr

Wondering if you added some flour to the breading mix if that would result in what you are looking for . . .

fishlessman

looks good. ive never been able to get that dish perfect either. place near me i always tell them to add more heat as i dont like it sweet either. im not sure of their dipping process, but my last fried green tomatoes where dipped first in rice flour, then milk, then cornmeal. the rice flour seemed to help pick up more cornmeal.

Little Steven

Ben,

Are you dipping the chicken into egg whites? A tempura batter would be thicker.

Steve

loco_engr

Ok, not afraid to show my ignorance (much), but what is a tempura batter? :ermm:

Boilermaker Ben

Off the top of my head, I think it was an egg white, a couple tablespoons of cornstarch, a couple tablespoons of rice wine and a tablespoon of soy sauce.

Boilermaker Ben

Oh, and it wasn't really a "dip". The recipe said to marinate the chicken in the mixture for up to 2 hours.

Big George's BBQ

I would eat that

NoVA Bill

Looks pretty darn good to me. Great post as i'm just beginning to cut my teeth on using the wok - my wife and two of my kids are asian food junkies. Lookng fwd to a remidy for the batter issue you described.

Thanks for sharing.

Nicolas_Kershanko

Simple tempura batter

1 cup flour
1 cup water
1 egg

Mix altogether
dip meat
deep fry.

Tempura is really made for deep frying not pan frying.

To get the a batter to really stick, I like to place mine on wax paper and put in the freezer for 30 minutes at least. Then it can be pan fried or deep fried without separating.

Richard Fl

Sounds like part of your crispy problem is marinating in the cornstarch for 2 hours, gives the cornstarch time to get thick on the chicken. not what you want.. You should consider marinating just the chicken in a marinate soy, rice wine, black pepper or any other marinade that you care to use. Just before placing the chicken in the hot oil, dredge it thru the corn starch mixture that you just made and drop into the hot oil. Marinating in cornstarch mixture does nothing for the texture or flavor.

Here is a good recipe.

Chicken, Thighs, General Tso, AZRP

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


INGREDIENTS:
Sauce
4 tsp cornstarch
4 tsp sugar
4 tsp rice vinegar
6 Tbs soy sauce
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup marsala




Procedure:
1 The batter is an egg whisked together with cornstarch
2 For a package of boneless skinless chicken thighs double the amount of sauce. The sauce I usually put in a jar and shake it up real good before pouring in the wok. -RP


Recipe Type
Main Dish, Poultry

Recipe Source
Source: BGE Forum, AZRP, 2008/11/18

Little Steven

Richard.

I agree.

Steve

Boilermaker Ben

Hmm, I might try a couple other recipes before tackling one that has marsala...what am I going to do with the rest of the bottle? Not a marsala fan.

But I will definitely try the frying technique next time. Thanks for the advice, Richard.

AZRP

Hey Ben, I make Tso's chicken all the time. The sauce thickens up beautifully and turns black as it comes to a boil. I chunk up boneless skinless chicken thighs and marinate them about a half hour in a bowl with an egg and a Tbs of cornstarch that have been whisked together to form a smooth mixture. I use my deep fryer to cook the chicken because its a lot easier. I put the sauce ingredients in a jar with a lid so I can shake it up just before adding it. Then I get the wok hot and add some garlic and ginger as well as the dried chili peppers. Once the peppers have blackened I add the chicken and the sauce. When the sauce turns black and the chicken is warmed through, I turn off the heat and add some scallions. Here is the sauce recipe. -RP

Sauce:

---

4 tsp cornstarch
4 tsp sugar
4 tsp rice vinegar
6 tbl soy sauce
1/2 C chicken broth
1/4 C marsala wine or dry sherry

Boilermaker Ben

Now THAT looks like the stuff. And I do think I've got sherry. Gonna have to give it a try.

SoonerChris

Man, I have got to break out the wok I got from tjv. I love Chinese food and I think I can do better than ANY restaurant in the small town I live in.

LDD

a little late to the party I know... ha ha

the corn starch is great in the marinade in small amounts... it's good for sealing the chicken and keeping it moist while you fry it. If you then toss the chicken in some flour before you fry, you'll get really moist, crispy chicken