Toms General Tsos Chicken Food

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.

GENERAL TSO'S CHICKEN

Steps:

• Bring oil to between 350 and 375 degrees F. Cut chicken into chunks, then mix together with cornstarch. Fry in oil.
• For the sauce: Mix together soy sauce, sugar, hoisin, vinegar, cornstarch, garlic, ginger, chili flakes and 1/2 cup water. Toss fried chicken in sauce, then serve.

GENERAL TSO'S CHICKEN

Steps:

• For the chicken: In a large bowl, sprinkle the chicken with a pinch of salt and pepper. Add the cornstarch and mix well.
• For the sweet sauce: In another bowl, add the stock, chili sauce, ketchup, light soy sauce, rice vinegar, yellow bean sauce, honey and dark soy sauce together and set aside.
• For the stir-fry: Heat a wok over high heat and when the wok starts to smoke, add the vegetable oil. Add the garlic and chicken pieces and let the chicken settle in the wok for 1 minute before stir-frying for another 2 minutes. As the chicken starts to turn opaque, add the rice wine and dried chilies and fry for a few seconds. Then add the sweet sauce mixture and cook for another 3 minutes. Cook the chicken in the sauce until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has reduced, is slightly sticky and has a thicker consistency, another 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the scallions and peanuts and cook for less than 1 minute. Toss in the noodles and then transfer to a serving plate.

GENERAL TSO'S CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Toss the chicken in a bowl with the egg white and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Let sit covered for 10 minutes. Mix 2 teaspoons vegetable oil into the ground rice cereal, rubbing it in with your fingers. Dredge the chicken strips in the cereal. Place the coated strips in one layer on a rack set in a baking sheet and coat lightly with the nonstick cooking spray. Bake until the chicken has an internal temperature of 165 degrees F, about 20 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes, then cut into large bite-size pieces.
• Heat the remaining teaspoon of oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic, ginger and dried chiles. Stir for a couple of minutes, then add the chicken broth, soy sauce, agave and vinegar. Mix the corn starch with 3 tablespoons water, and whisk into the sauce. Simmer gently for 8 to 10 minutes. The sauce should be thick, but pourable. Keep warm.
• Put the broccoli florets in a microwave-safe bowl with 2 tablespoons water. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and microwave until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes.
• Divide the chicken and broccoli evenly among four plates and drizzle the sauce over the top. Serve the rice on the side. Garnish with the sliced scallions.

TOM'S GENERAL TSO'S CHICKEN

Steps:

• Save yourself a little time and chop the all the garlic and ginger when you make the marinade!
• Mix together the chili peppers, 1 tbsp ginger, 1 clove garlic, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar and sesame oil in a wok until sugar is dissolved. Heat it up a little just to make sure sugar is totally dissolved. Let it cool for a couple minutes.
• Put the chicken and broccoli into a large bowl and coat it with the flour.
• Pour the marinade over the chicken and broccoli; mix to coat, and marinate for at least 15 minutes but no longer than 2 hours.
• Heat wok over high heat until very hot and add the oil.
• Working quickly add the ginger, garlic, chili (optional), sugar, soy sauce, and rice wine vinegar and stir to combine.
• Add the chicken and broccoli in the wok along with the marinade and continue to cook until the chicken is brown (about 1-2 minutes).
• Once the chicken is brown, add the tomato paste and water (or broth) and stir it until the tomato paste is incorporated.
• Continue to cook for another 1-2 minutes, until chicken is done and sauce has thickened.
• Taste the sauce and season to taste with more soy, vinegar, sugar, chiles, etc --
• Serve with rice.

GENERAL TSAO'S CHICKEN II

Steps:

• Heat 4 cups vegetable oil in a deep-fryer or large saucepan to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Beat the egg in a mixing bowl. Add the chicken cubes; sprinkle with salt, 1 teaspoon sugar, and white pepper; mix well. Mix in 1 cup of cornstarch a little bit at a time until the chicken cubes are well coated.
• In batches, carefully drop the chicken cubes into the hot oil one by one, cooking until they turns golden brown and begin to float, about 3 minutes. Remove the chicken and allow to cool as you fry the next batch. Once all of the chicken has been fried, refry the chicken, starting with the batch that was cooked first. Cook until the chicken turns deep golden brown, about 2 minutes more. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate.
• Heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat. Stir in the green onion, garlic, whole chiles, and orange zest. Cook and stir a minute or two until the garlic has turned golden and the chiles brighten. Add 1/2 cup sugar, the ginger, chicken broth, vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and peanut oil; bring to a boil and cook for 3 minutes.
• Dissolve 2 teaspoons of cornstarch into the water, and stir into the boiling sauce. Return to a boil and cook until the sauce thickens and is no longer cloudy from the cornstarch, about 1 minute. Stir the chicken into the boiling sauce. Reduce heat to low and cook for a few minutes until the chicken absorbs some of the sauce.

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

Steps:

• For the chicken, mix the egg white with the potato flour in a bowl, then add the soy sauce, Shaohsing wine (or sherry) and the chicken. Turn the chicken over to coat it.
• For the sauce, mix together the tomato purée, 2-3 tbsp water, potato flour, soy sauces, rice vinegar, sugar and Shaohsing wine and set this aside. Snip the chillies into 5cm lengths, discarding the seeds.
• Heat the oil in a wok and cook the garlic, ginger and chillies over a medium heat until they're aromatic and beginning to soften, but not brown.
• Mix the cornflour and plain flour for the coating with salt and pepper and tip into a broad shallow bowl. Working with one piece of chicken at a time, dip it in the flour mix and set the pieces onto a tray.
• Pour enough oil into a deep pan to come 8cm up the sides. Heat until it reaches 200C (if you drop in a test piece of chicken, it should sizzle straight away). Carefully add half the chicken pieces and fry until they're crisp and golden - agitating the pieces to make sure they don't stick together - about 4 mins. Lift the pieces out with a slotted spoon onto a double layer of kitchen paper. Repeat with the rest of the chicken.
• Heat the wok, add the sauce mixture to the garlic, ginger and chillies in there and cook, stirring, until the mixture bubbles and thickens. Add the chicken and half the spring onions and warm everything through. Serve with the sesame seeds and the rest of the spring onions scattered on top. This doesn't give you huge servings so it's best to offer another dish with it, as well as boiled rice.

GENERAL TSO'S CHICKEN

Steps:

• In a large bowl, thoroughly blend the 3/4 cup of cornstarch and the eggs; add the chicken and toss to coat.
• If the mixture is too thick, add some vegetable oil to separate the pieces.
• In a small bowl, prepare the sauce mixture by combining the 1 Tablespoon of cornstarch with the wine, vinegar, sugar, soy sauce and chili sauce.
• First-Stage Frying: Heat 1-2 inches of peanut oil in a wok to medium-high heat (350-400).
• Fry the chicken in small batches, just long enough to cooking the chicken until crispy and done.
• Remove the chicken to absorbent paper and allow to stand (this step can be performed well in advance, along with the sauce mixture, with both refrigerated). You can maintain them in a 275 degree oven while the others are cooking.
• The General's Favorite Sauce: Leave about 1 Tablespoon of the oil in the wok and add the sauce-mixture to the wok, tossing over the heat until the sauce caramelizes into a glaze (1-2 minutes).
• Return the chicken to the wok and toss to coat.
• Serve immediately.
• Serves 6, along with steamed broccoli and rice.

GENERAL TSO'S CHICKEN

Steps:

• MARINATING: Put all marinade ingredients into resealable zip plastic bag; seal and rotate to mix.
• Cut chicken into thin bite-size strips (approximate 2"x1/4"x1"), cutting across the grain of the meat.
• Put chicken in marinade and rotate to evenly coat chicken.
• Marinate for 20 minutes, turning once after 10 minutes.
• Remove chicken from marinade and drain well in colander, discarding marinade.
• STIR-FRYING: In a hot wok or frying pan, heat the oil on high, adding half the chicken to the hot pan.
• Stir fry about 2 minutes until chicken browns.
• With slotted spoon, remove chicken from hot pan and set aside.
• Repeat with remaining chicken.
• ***If you are using (optional) spring onions, stir-fry them now for about 1 minute.
• In hot pan, stir fry chili peppers for 10 seconds, adding a little more oil if needed.
• FINISHING WITH SAUCE: Add sauce ingredients to hot pan and stir fry about 2-3 minutes, or until sauce is thickened.
• Add chicken just to heat it (if using, add cooked green onions now) and toss with sauce.
• Serve over hot white rice or fried rice.