A Healthier General Tso’s Chicken

General Tso’s Chicken is a sweet and spicy takeout and restaurant item that I love. Unfortunately, I never order this item anymore because not only is the chicken deep fat fried it tends to be over battered and the sauce is usually sickly sweet. Therefore, I created this recipe which mimics the great flavors of this dish, while keeping it much lighter. The key is in the light marinade and coating that goes on the chicken pieces prior to wok frying. This gives the chicken a beautiful crunch and texture to the outside while keeping the inside still moist and juicy. The sauce is very flavorful and can be adjusted to individual tastes by adjusting the amounts of garlic, ginger, scallion, agave and chili flavors. The thickness of the sauce can also be adjusted by the amount of slurry used. A slurry, by the way, is starch mixed and dissolved in water, then added, in small amounts, to boiling liquids in order to thicken them. A good rule of thumb is to whisk small amounts of slurry at a time to achieve desired thickness. Keep in mind it s much easier to thicken a sauce then it is to thin it.

General Tso’s Chicken is meant to be served over a generous amount of steamed broccoli florets with steamed white or brown rice. However, different variations of this recipe could include various vegetables (steamed or thawed frozen) added in to the sauce with the chicken pieces.

General Tso’s Chicken

Serves 8-10

Ingredients

2 pounds organic chicken thigh, boneless and skinless, cut into 1 inch cubes

1 egg plus 1egg white, beaten

Salt and pepper

2 tablespoon tamari

Organic tapioca starch, water chestnut flour or cornstarch, about two tablespoons or as needed

Sauce:

6 tablespoon tamari

2 tablespoon brown rice vinegar

6 tablespoon chicken broth

Agave nectar to taste

2 tablespoon minced ginger

3 tablespoon minced garlic

3 tablespoon minced white part of scallion

Organic tapioca starch or cornstarch as needed

Sunflower oil, red chili flake, steamed broccoli florets, chopped scallion as

needed

 

Method

1. Season chicken with salt, pepper and tamari. Then mix pieces with beaten eggs. Generously sprinkle starch over marinated chicken pieces and stir, forming a light coating or batter.

2. Gather ingredients for sauce.

3. Heat some sunflower oil in a wok or large frying pan. Batch sauté chicken a few pieces at a time until well browned and crispy.  Remove chicken cubes and place on a rack to rest while preparing sauce.

4. Drain excess oil out of wok. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil and add garlic, ginger, scallions and chili flakes. Stir-fry until aromatic (about 30 seconds). Then add liquid ingredients. When sauce boils thicken lightly with starch slurry.

5. Adjust sauce seasoning and consistency then add in chicken pieces to finish cooking and coat well with sauce.

6. Serve chicken on a bed of steamed broccoli and garnish with scallion and chili flake.