How to Make General Tso's Chicken ( 左宗雞)

And now for an article about "pseudo-Chinese"dishes. 

My brother recently gave me a message to demonstrate how to make General Tso's chicken.  My reply, "Oh! That's easy!  I made it before and certainly I can demonstrate it now!"  So there.  That is the main reason for the post.  It is part of a request line. 

General Tso's Chicken and it's Deadly Allure.

Anyway, the very first time I had this dish was in a little town of Pittsfield, Massachusetts where my best friend, Dr. Philip King, Jr, nephrologist was living then while doing his residency in the Berkshire Medical Center.  Now, up to that point, the most Chinese I had was in Manila where the Chinese dishes are more authentic though they may be Fujian or Taiwanese inspired.  In the United States, they are more Hunan and Cantonese inspired; but more than that, American. 

Thank you, Philip for introducing me to this
"Weapon of Waist Destruction".

Now, what do I exactly mean by that?  My Asian friends and audiences would probably know more that Chinese dishes may contain meat and unless they are exactly meat dishes, would contain more vegetables.  Of course, we expect meat dishes to be primarily meat.  But going back to the dishes that have vegetables and meat like, for instance, Moo Goo Gai Pan (Chicken with Mushrooms), the dish would have more vegetables than meat.  But in American Chinese, it seems that the reverse is true.  The next feature is that the flavor is more intense rather than delicate.  Take for example, Sweet Sour Pork - one needs to sample this dish prepared in Manila in a Chinese restaurant and in an American Chinese restaurant.  Two things are apparent: the Sweet Sour pork in Manila is more delicate, with a hint of five spice (reminiscent of the style of Fujian cuisine) and deep-fried with a coating of corn or cassava starch, containing sautéed peppers, onions, carrot and sometimes pineapple; as opposed to the American style which the meat chunks are deep fried with a coating of batter, the sauce is sweeter than sour but intensely sweet/sour with no accompanying vegetables.  My reaction: shock and one description: dull. 

American Style Sweet Sour Pork.  This
includes only the pieces at the left,
not the veggies at the right.

Hokkien Inspired Sweet Sour Pork as
served in restaurants in Manila.

General Tso's chicken is somewhat similar as well - but NOT dull.  No...not dull at all in fact, it is addictive!  The reason is four-fold - first the chicken is made from fatty cuts of dark meat like thighs, which I insist not only because it is a cheap cut, but it contains fat and fat and more fat which help in t he crisping process while frying.  Second, the coating is not a dull batter (typical of Cantonese they say) but a generous dusting of tapioca starch with rice flour, the latter helps in further crisping of the fried chunks of chicken. Third, the spicy, salty, tangy, thick indulgent sauce to coat the chicken is just a delight.  Need I say more? Well, fourth, the bite of the fragrant well toasted dried red Chinese chilies just add to the excitement of it all.  Of course, the broccoli is just to mask all the guilt after eating all three thousand calories of it.  And while there is a serving of rice on the side which should be the primary staple of the meal with the chicken just to flavor it, well, com'n! -- Who eats the rice?!  This is America!  I think General Tso's --  the sneaky reason behind the name is that it is an attack weapon of mass destruction through obesity.  And a Google search stated that General Tso is actually Zuo Zongtang (左宗棠) who was a victorious general under the Ching Dynasty and using the sneakiness of the dish through salt, sugar and fat, the chicken dish can just feed the citizens of target with unhealthiness that could lead to its destruction.  Hahaha, but again, I digress. 

General Zuo Zhong-Tang, to whom the
honor of General Tso's Chicken
was named.

This is what makes the breading.

And this makes the crispiness.

But enough philosophizing on the subject...on with the recipe. 

General Tso's Chicken 

Chicken: 

• 4 Chicken thighs, deboned and cut into bite sized pieces 
• 1/4 cup xiaosing or rice wine (dry vermouth is a good substitute 
• 1-1/2 cup or more tapioca starch or cornstarch (tapioca preferred) 
• 1/8 cup rice flour 
• oil for deep frying 
• 1 egg (optional for incorporation with chicken for breading) 

Sauce: 

• 1/4 cup light soy sauce 
• 1/2 to 3/4 or more if desired, brown sugar 
• 1/8 cup white vinegar (if desired as a sour contrast to the sweetness) 
• 1 tablespoon tapioca starch 
• 1 cup chicken broth (made from boiling the chicken bones with 1 cup water) 
• 5 pieces Chinese red chilies 
• 1/2 head garlic, peeled and chopped 

Your Dose of Health (Yeah, right!):

• 1 head broccoli floret 
• water to steam 

Procedure: 

1. Prepare the chicken by deboning then cutting into bite sized pieces.  Marinade with Xiaosing or rice wine (vermouth, if not available).  Salt and pepper if desired but the sauce in itself is salty enough.  You may also want to put a tablespoon of five spice powder for a Hokkien flavor 
2. Add beaten egg if desired.  But the water of the meat pieces is essentially enough.  Put in 1 cup of the tapioca/rice flour and dust the pieces well and leave for a few minutes to develop the coating.  Then, after a minute or so of resting, apply more flour and knead so as to incorporate the flour well into the chicken pieces and a breading is somewhat made. 
3. Meanwhile, make the sauce mixture by combining all the liquids in the sauce mixture and set aside.  Also, add water to the tapioca starch to make a flour solution. 
4. Fry all the chicken pieces and set aside. 
5. After frying all the chicken pieces, remove all the oil leaving about an eighth of a cup and saute the chilies and garlic until light brown and fragrant.  To this instantly pour the sauce mixture and cover to boil, stirring occasionally.  Once boiling, add the tapioca water mixture to thicken the sauce.  Add some more sugar or soy sauce to taste.  One may want to add a bit of vinegar to taste if a sweet sour taste is desired. 
6. Once the sauce is thick with the starch cooked, turn off the heat and throw in the chicken pieces to toss and coat.  Serve immediately with the broccoli florets on the side.