U1. General Tsao's Chicken

This week’s blogs are going to take a step in a different direction. I am going to go towards international foods. This week’s blog I am going to explain how to make a little bit of Chinese food, General Taos’s Chicken. To make this delicious dish you will need vegetable oil for frying, one egg, boneless skinless chicken legs, salt, white sugar, white pepper, cornstarch, chopped green onion, minced garlic clove, whole red chilies, strip of orange zest, ground ginger, chicken broth, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, peanut oil, and water. The orange zest and peanut oil come together to make a very distinctive flavor. This dish takes 25 minutes to cook and to prepare and serves up to 6 servings! Wanna know how to make it? Well I have it right here for you! 

Step 1: Heat 4 cups of vegetable oil in a deep fryer or a large saucepan to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Step 2: Then beat an egg into a mixing bowl. Add 1 ½ lbs. of chicken cut into ½ inch cubes along with 1 tsp. of salt, tsp. of sugar, and a pinch of white pepper. Make sure to mix well. Now mix 1 cup of cornstarch a little bit at a time until the chicken cubes are well coated.

Step 3: Now in batches, carefully drop the chicken cubes into the hot oil one by one, cook the chicken until lightly browned and begin to float to the top. That will be about 3 minutes. Then remove the chicken and allow it to cool as you do the next batch. 

Step 4: After all of the chicken has been has been fried you now want to refry the chicken making sure you start with the first batch you fried first. Cook this time until the chicken is cooked deep golden brown for about 2 more minutes. 

Step 5: Drain on a paper towel lined plate.

Step 6: Now heat 2 tbsp. of vegetable in a wok or large skillet over high heat. Then stir in 3 tbsp. of chopped green onion, 1 clove of minced garlic, 6 dried whole red chilies, and a strip of orange zest. Cook the mix for about a minute or two until garlic is browned and chilies are brightened. 

Step 7: Then add ½ cup of sugar, ¼ tsp. of ginger, 3 tbsp. of chicken broth, 1 tbsp. of rice vinegar, ¼ cup of soy sauce, 2 tsp. of sesame oil, and 2 tbsp. of peanut oil and bring that mix to a boil and cook for 3 minutes. 

Step 8: The next step is to dissolve 2 tsp. of cornstarch into the water, and stir into the boiling sauce. Now return to a boil and cook until the sauce thickens up and is no longer cloudy from the cornstarch. That will take about one minute. 

Step 9: After that stir the chicken into the boiling sauce and reduce the heat to low and cook for the last few minutes, or until the chicken absorbs some of the sauce. 

After you have done all the steps above you have created your own Chinese dinner dish of General Taos’s chicken. Typically you would eat any Chinese dish with the traditional chopsticks but if you are more like me and not that coordinated you can eat them with just regular silverware. General Taos’s goes well with rice and broccoli and for an extra taste a Chinese Donut for dessert. Coming up in my next few blogs with be some more international dishes! That is just a preview to look for.