General Tsos Chicken Take Out Fakeout Food

GENERAL TSO'S CHICKEN (TAKE OUT FAKEOUT)

Steps:

• Step by step.
• Prepare rice according to package instructions.
• Blanch (slightly steam) the broccoli. It should still be fairly crisp.
• In a small bowl, prepare the sauce by whisking together 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and the water first, then add the chicken broth, garlic, ginger, honey, soy sauce and pepper flakes.
• Adjust the pepper flakes to your taste. I used only 1/2 tablespoon so my kids could eat it.
• Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet or wok over medium high heat.
• In another small bowl, mix the remaining 3 tablespoons of cornstarch, salt and pepper.
• Throw the chicken pieces into the cornstarch mixture and toss to coat.
• Working in batches, brown the chicken in the oil.
• Once all the chicken is browned, put it all back into the skillet.
• Add the broccoli and the sauce.
• Cook over for a few minutes more until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is thickened.
• Serve the chicken and broccoli mixture over rice.
• Garnish with green onion and sesame seeds if desired.

GENERAL TSO'S CHICKEN

Steps:

• Place sauce ingredients in a quart jar with a lid and shake to mix. If you make this ahead of time just refrigerate until needed, shaking it again when you are ready to use it. This also keeps your dirty dishes down.
• Mix cornstarch slurry in a large bowl- the mixture will be strange but trust me it works. It will be VERY thick almost paste like. Add ALL the chicken pieces and stir to coat. Using a fork remove ONE chicken piece at a time and let the excess mixture drip off. YES even though the mixture has a weird consistency it will not stick like paste and the excess will drip off. Add chicken to the hot (350 degree) oil and fry until crispy. Only cook 7 or 8 chicken pieces at a time. You do not want to lower the temp of the oil by cooking too many at a time. You can use a simple cooking or candy thermometer to judge the temp of the oil.
• Drain on paper towels. Want them extra crispy? Put them on a rack over a sheet pan. Keep warm- I just put them in the oven with the oven off. Repeating until all chicken is fried.
• In a separate wok or large skillet add a small amount of oil and heat to 400 degrees. Again, a candy thermometer works great. (Want less dishes? You can just drain the oil after you fry all the chicken, leave a small amount (about a tsp) in the pan and use the same pan if you like.)
• Add green onions and hot peppers and stir fry about 30 seconds.
• Stir (or shake jar) sauce mixture, and then add to pan with onions and peppers, cook until thick. Some reviews didn't kniw what "thick" meant. Thick like the same sauce you get at a restaurant.you want it to just coat the chicken. If it gets too thick, add a little water or other liquid. The thickness of the sauce should be similar to what you get when ordering this at a restaurant.
• Add chicken to sauce in wok and heat just until the chicken is hot enough for you. It may not even need a minute if you kept the chicken warm. The quicker you serve it the crispier the chicken stays.
• Don't be scared by any negative reviews. It's not rocket science though if you have never cooked with a cornstarch slurry it may feel like an experiment. Trust yourself! You've got this! If you have any doubts reread the recipe and get everything in order before you start to cook. I promise you will thank yourself and maybe even me! Enjoy!
• Oh it's great served over rice!

GENERAL TSO'S CHICKEN (RESTAURANT QUALITY)

Steps:

• For the marinade and sauce: Whisk hoisin, vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, cornstarchand water in bowl.
• Combine 6 tablespoons hoisin mixture and chicken in zipper-lock bag; refrigerate 30 minutes.
• Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat until shimmering.
• Cook garlic, ginger, and pepper flakes until fragrant, about 1 minute.
• Add 2 cups hoisin mixture and simmer, whisking constantly, until dark brown and thickened, about 2 minute.
• Cover and keep sauce warm.
• For coating and frying: Whisk egg whites in shallow dish until foamy.
• Combine cornstarch, flour, baking soda, and remaining hoisin mixture in second shallow dish until mixture resembles course meal.
• remove chicken from marinade and pat dry with aper towels.
• Toss half of the chicken with egg whites until well coated, then dredge chicken in cornstarch mixture, pressing to adhere.
• Transfer coated chicken to plate and repeat with remaining chicken.
• Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until oil registers 350 degrees.
• Fry half of the chicken until golden brown, about 3 minutes, turning each piece halfway through cooking.
• Transfer chicken to paper towel-lined plate.
• Return oil to 350 degrees and repeat with remaining chicken.
• To serve: Warm sauce over medium-low heat until simmering, about 1 minute.
• Add crispy chicken and toss to coat.
• Serving over rice or noodles would be awesome!

GENERAL TSO'S CHICKEN

Steps:

• For the chicken: Place your broccoli florets in a medium bowl and add 2 tablespoons water. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 2 minutes, until tender. Drain and set aside until ready to use.
• Heat the oil in a 4-quart (3.8-liter) Dutch oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) using a frying thermometer. Rinse the chicken in cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Mix 1 1/2 cups (335 grams) of the tempura flour and 1 cup (240 milliliters) water into a thick batter. It should look like thick pancake batter. Dredge the chicken cubes in the 1 cup (223 grams) of tempura flour and then coat them in the batter. Fry them in two batches until golden brown and crispy, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain the chicken on paper towels or a rack.
• Heat a wok or large skillet to high and add 2 tablespoons (30 milliliters) of oil. When you see the first wisps of white smoke, stir in the fried chicken, onion, chiles, broccoli, and 1/3 of the ginger and garlic and cook them for about 30 seconds.
• For the sauce: While the chicken cooks, add the oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, chili garlic sauce, sugar, white vinegar, soy sauce, cornstarch slurry, red food coloring if using, 1/3 cup water and the remaining chopped ginger and garlic into a 1-quart (946-millileter) saucepan and bring the heat up to medium. Whisk gently as it comes to a simmer. Allow it to simmer and keep whisking it for about 5 minutes, until the sauce thickens. Remove from the heat and reserve it.
• Stir in the sauce and allow it to coat the chicken and simmer. Cook it, folding all the ingredients until they are well coated, about 2 minutes. Garnish with the scallions.