General Tso’s Chicken and Fried Rice

General Tso’s Chicken and Fried Rice

For the Chicken

2 egg whites

3 T Chinese cooking wine

3 T dark soy sauce

2 T water

½ t baking soda

¼ cup corn starch

1.5 - 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs

Neutral oil for frying (can shallow fry or deep fry)

Trim any fat from thighs as desired and cut into roughly 1-inch pieces. Mix all other ingredients minus the oil (for frying) in a bowl and add chicken. Marinate at least 30 minutes up to a few hours in the fridge.

For the Dredge

¾ cup flour

¾ cup corn starch

1 t salt

1 t baking powder

Mix ingredients thoroughly in a shallow bowl or pan. When ready to cook, add the marinated chicken to your dredge and coat thoroughly in the mixture. It is ok if there is excess marinade mixed into the dredge as this will increase the crunchiness of the final product. Heat oil in a pan or pot to 375 degrees and add one piece of chicken at a time and fry for 4-6 minutes until crispy and cooked through. Use a spider or spatula to prevent the pieces from sticking together in the oil. Once cooked, remove and drain chicken on a wire rack or paper towel.

For the Sauce

¼ cup Chinese cooking wine

¼ cup chicken stock

¼ cup dark soy sauce

2 T rice wine vinegar

Juice of half an orange

1 t toasted sesame oil

¼ cup white sugar

1 T corn starch

5-10 chile de arbol or Thai bird chile, minced

1 T minced ginger

1 T minced garlic

4-5 green onions, sliced thinly

1 t oil or butter

Mix wine, stock, dark soy sauce, vinegar, orange juice, sugar, sesame oil and cornstarch in a bowl. Over medium high heat add your oil or butter along with the garlic and ginger. Saute for 1 minute until fragrant. Add your chili and stir to heat through. Add the sauce and stir for 1-2 minutes until it has thickened. In a large bowl add the cooked chicken and warm sauce along with the green onions. Stir to combine.

For the Fried Rice

2 cups (dry) white rice, cooked and cooled

1 T garlic

1 T ginger

2 eggs

1 carrot, diced (about 1/2 cup)

½ onion, diced

1/2 cup frozen peas

4-5 green onions, sliced thinly

1/3 cup soy sauce

2 t oyster sauce

2 T butter

In a large pot or wok over high heat add 1 T butter and crack in the eggs. Break them up and scramble them quickly. Remove from pan as soon as they are just cooked. Add the other T of butter along with the garlic, ginger, onion and carrot. Cook for 3-4 minutes until the onions are beginning to soften. Add the cooked and cooled rice and use a spatula to break it up. Stir vigorously to break up all the rice and incorporate the other ingredients. Add the soy sauce, oyster sauce, peas and green onions and stir to combine. Cook and stir for 2-3 minutes until all ingredients are homogeneous. Add the egg back in, incorporate, and you are ready to serve.

Dish Notes

Both Chinese cooking wine and dark soy sauce are easily available in a local Asian specialty market or via the internet. As stated in the video, making any substitutions will alter the dish significantly but in a pinch you can use regular soy sauce in place of dark soy by using slightly less and adding a pinch of brown sugar as well. Chinese cooking wine can be replaced with any dry white wine but you will need to add salt to both the marinade and sauce as Chinese cooking wine has a roughly 1% salt content. The list of ingredients may look daunting however most are (or should be) pantry staples and other than the time involved in prepping everything, the dish comes together quickly like many take-out staples. In fact, I’d bet you could have it done in the same 45-60 minutes it would normally take for delivery to arrive. Whether you tip yourself is up to you.