Good Chinese at Home: General Tso’s Chicken

Oh how I miss good Chinese food. Quite frankly, even if I could find decent Chinese food, it would likely still contain MSG and other unsavory ingredients I prefer to avoid. MSG always knocks me out and puts me into a food coma that leaves me groggy for hours. Here is a list of this excitotoxin’s side effects. If you leave a restaurant or buffet and always go into a food coma, it’s likely that you have just have MSG overload, not just food overload.  

I’m gonna help you make Good Chinese at Home: General Tso’s Chicken!  It’s my favorite chinese dish by far. I love the spicy, garlicky and sweet combination but it can sometimes be too sweet and the breading can be a little on the thick side for me. It’s so easy to make this homemade and make the adjustments. There’s nothing better than good chinese at home where you know what’s in your food. All the ingredients are likely in your pantry except for dried red chili peppers and I imagine you could substitute red chili pepper flakes if needed. You keep those in your pantry, right? You can find the dried red chili peppers at any asian market and possibly the the ethnic aisle at your favorite grocery store. Whole chilis impart the spicy flavor without burning your mouth the way it would if you just used seeds. Be careful not to deseed them unless you want it spicier. And be sure to remove the whole chilies lest you take a bite of them and regret it. 

General Tso’s Chicken does take an extra step if you want it crispy but you can easily skip that and just cook the chicken pieces without the breading to make it even easier. See recipe card below for how I made mine. I used a whole pastured chicken which took extra time to butcher and then chop into pieces. But I did use a fry daddy to make frying easier. If you don’t have one, you can still fry the chicken in a skillet. Just be sure not to overcrowd the pan with chicken or you’ll lower the temperature and it’ll take too long for the chicken to cook before it turns too brown, which makes for dried out chicken. Ideally you want your oil to be at 350 degrees. 

**This recipe is actually a double batch of sauce b/c I make extra sauce to save for another meal so cut this in half if you don’t want to do the same. 

Serve this chicken over soaked rice cooked in bone broth so that you don’t feel so bad about the sugar in the sauce. It is commonly served with steamed broccoli, but this time, I served mine with raw asian kale salad, lacto fermented kimchi and avocado. Bon appetite! 

 

Ingredients

1. 2+ lbs pastured chicken, cut into chunks (I prefer dark meat, but breasts will work too)
2. 1 onion, cut into chunks (OR 1 bunch of green onions, sliced)
3. 6-7 small dried chilies (found at the asian market)
4. 1/2 cup unbleached wheat flour
5. 1/2 cup arrowroot flower (Or non-GMO cornstarch)
6. 1 tsp real salt
7. 1 tsp pepper
8. Your favorite frying oil in Fry Daddy
9. 1 tbsp sesame oil
10. Sauce
11. 1/4 cup arrowroot powder
12. 3-4 cloves fresh garlic, minced (use more or less according to how much you like garlic)
13. 1/2 cup evaporated cane sugar
14. 1/2 cup tamari soy sauce
15. 1/4 cup white vinegar
16. 2 cups chicken broth

Instructions

1. Put all the sauce ingredients into a quart mason jar. Seal and shake to mix.
2. Season chicken with salt and pepper.
3. Mix flour and arrowroot powder well.
4. Dredge chicken pieces in the mixture and set aside.
5. Fry Daddy heats up to perfect 350 degrees. Drop chicken pieces and cook for a few minutes until golden brown.
6. Drain cooked pieces on paper towel.
7. Keep chicken pieces warm until all pieces are cooked. (I put mine onto an oven safe plate and stick them in the oven on 250 degrees.
8. In a wok or skillet on medium high heat, add a tbsp of sesame oil. Saute the onions and hot peppers for a minute.
9. Shake up the sauce mixture well and pour it in. Cook until thick. This will happen pretty quickly so don't walk away. If it happens to get too thick, add some water.
10. (Since I make a double batch, this is when I take a pint jar and fill it with excess sauce for another meal.)
11. Add chicken into the sauce and cook until everything is hot and bubbly.
12. Serve over rice.