General Tsos chicken

This recipe is a new one that has easily become one of our favorite meals! It is easy to make, and the more times you make it, the more efficient you become, the easier it is.

I serve this with short grain, sticky white rice and sometimes steamed broccoli.

Check out my post on rice to get all the tips and tricks to perfect this simple base! To begin, rinse and drain 1.5 cups of sticky white rice, and let sit for 20 minutes. Next, put your drained rice in a pot with 2 cups of cold water, or you can use the finger method to measure out your desired amount of rice. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover, letting cook for 20 minutes, or until all liquid is gone. Remember not to stir or remove the lid until the cook times is up! Set yourself a timer, since you'll be multitasking and don't want your rice to burn! When it is done, let is sit for an additional 10 minutes, or until you're ready to serve. 

While your rice is cooking, start your sauce. Begin my mixing together your hoisin sauce, rice vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, cornstarch and chicken broth. Later, when you put this into the pot to thicken, give it a good whisk, as the cornstarch will settle to the bottom. Set this mixture aside for the moment.

Then, over medium heat in a small pot, heat 1 Tbsp vegetable oil. Put the white part of your green onion, fresh ginger, and garlic in and cook until fragrant, about 60 seconds, stirring continuously to avoid burning. 

Then pour in your sauce mixture (remembering to give it a good whisk beforehand). Bring this mixture to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer until thick. After the sauce is thickened, set aside.

Now you want to begin the process of frying your chicken. Heat 4 cups of canola oil to 350F in a large, heavy bottom pot or dutch oven. While that is heating prepare your breading station. In a shallow dish, whisk 3 eggs together with just a pinch of salt & pepper. In another shallow dish, mix cornstarch, flour, baking soda, salt & pepper. Before breading, you will want to pat your chicken pieces dry with some paper towels. This is a good rule for any meat you're frying. This allows the breading to stick to it better.

From left to right: Whisked eggs (with some chicken in the first stages of breading), flour mixture, breaded chicken

To avoid getting Hulk Fingers, designate one hand as the "wet hand" which will handle the chicken in the eggs, and one hand as the "dry hand", which will handle the chicken in the flour. Take your chicken pieces in your "wet hand" and dip into the eggs, shake off the excess. Then, still using your "wet hand", take from egg mixture and drop into flour mixture. Switch to your "dry hand" and coat your chicken in flour. No need to shake off excess, as this will provide a thick, crispy, crunchy coating to soak up the delicious sauce.

These are Hulk fingers. They too are breaded. Try to avoid this mess.

You may be tempted to bread all your chicken at once, but if your breaded chicken is sitting around waiting to be fried, the egg will start to soak up the flour mixture and mess with your even breading you worked so hard for. What I like to do is to bread it and immediately fry, in batches. It will be 3 or 4 batches.

Place your breaded chicken into your hot oil, and cook until golden brown. The chicken inside will cook quickly, but you want a nice crispy golden brown.

After all your chicken is fried, mix it with you prepared, warmed sauce, and serve over rice!
Top with the green parts of your green onion, and a drizzle of Sriracha. I also like to sometimes steam some broccoli (with some salt and garlic) and serve alongside.