General Tso Chicken

 

This recipe, that looks asian, is indeed part of American cuisine. Although someone tried to link it with a similar recipe from Hunan province in China, the truth is that it was probably invented in the 70s of the last century in a restaurant in the New York area. It seems that it was first served in 1973 in a restaurant where Chef Peng from Hunan worked, which has remained as the creator of the recipe. Before that date it does not appear in any menu from anywhere in the world but it is not certain that it was he who really created it.

It is a bittersweet dish slightly spicy (or much, according to the taste of the chef), with cheap ingredients and very easy to make, which makes it inexplicable why in the United States it is served with a surcharge with respect to other recipes of any Chinese restaurant. Perhaps it is because it is very popular and demand sets a high price, not the intrinsic value of the preparation.

INGREDIENTS (4 people):

• 4 chicken thighs with thighs (must be meat obtained from the thighs, never from the breast)
• 50 ml of soy sauce (one quarter of a cup)
• 50 ml of white wine, apple or rice vinegar (one quarter of a cup)
• 1 egg
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tablespoon corn
• 1 teaspoon chopped ginger
• Chili peppers, chopped (red, the amount depends on the degree of spice you want)
• Vegetable oil (corn, sunflower or canola)

First of all you have to bone the thighs in raw (sometimes you can find them already boned in your usual chicken shop). The skin should be discarded and nerves and other impurities removed. Each thigh should be cut into approximately 1 cm pieces (half an inch)

In a bowl we mix the beaten egg with the cornstarch and in that mixture we introduce the chicken pieces.

Now we must fry the chicken, preferably in wok but if you do not have it you can use a heavy pan. We pour a tablespoon of vegetable oil and fry the chicken pieces that are already soaked in the egg and cornstarch mixture.

We must fry them until they are golden brown.

While this happens we mix in another bowl the soy sauce, the vinegar, the chopped garlic clove without the green germ  and the chopped ginger root. Spicy is also added to taste.

When the chicken is golden brown add the sauce and reduce for 2 minutes over moderate heat.

And that's it, it is served very hot accompanied by cooked white rice or a vegetable seasoning. Easier could not be.

By the way, General Tso really existed. He lived during the nineteenth century and was much admired in his time. The dish took its name but he never tasted it or really nobody in China has done it, unless he traveled at some time in his life to the United States.

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General Tso Chicken

This recipe, that looks asian, is indeed part of American cuisine. Although someone tried to link it with a similar recipe from Hunan province in China, the truth is that it was probably invented in the 70s of the last century in a restaurant in the New York area. It seems that it was first served in 1973 in a restaurant where Chef Peng from Hunan worked, which has remained as the creator of the recipe. Before that date it does not appear in any menu from anywhere in the world but it is not certain that it was he who really created it.

It is a bittersweet dish slightly spicy (or much, according to the taste of the chef), with cheap ingredients and very easy to make, which makes it inexplicable why in the United States it is served with a surcharge with respect to other recipes of any Chinese restaurant. Perhaps it is because it is very popular and demand sets a high price, not the intrinsic value of the preparation.

INGREDIENTS (4 people):

4 chicken thighs with thighs (must be meat obtained from the thighs, never from the breast)

50 ml of soy sauce (one quarter of a cup)

50 ml of white wine, apple or rice vinegar (one quarter of a cup)

1 egg

1 clove garlic

1 tablespoon corn

1 teaspoon chopped ginger

Chili peppers, chopped (red, the amount depends on the degree of spice you want)

Vegetable oil (corn, sunflower or canola)

First of all you have to bone the thighs in raw (sometimes you can find them already boned in your usual chicken shop). The skin should be discarded and nerves and other impurities removed. Each thigh should be cut into approximately 1 cm pieces (half an inch)

In a bowl we mix the beaten egg with the cornstarch and in that mixture we introduce the chicken pieces.

Now we must fry the chicken, preferably in wok but if you do not have it you can use a heavy pan. We pour a tablespoon of vegetable oil and fry the chicken pieces that are already soaked in the egg and cornstarch mixture.

We must fry them until they are golden brown.

While this happens we mix in another bowl the soy sauce, the vinegar, the chopped garlic clove without the green germ  and the chopped ginger root. Spicy is also added to taste.

When the chicken is golden brown add the sauce and reduce for 2 minutes over moderate heat.

And that's it, it is served very hot accompanied by cooked white rice or a vegetable seasoning. Easier could not be.

By the way, General Tso really existed. He lived during the nineteenth century and was much admired in his time. The dish took its name but he never tasted it or really nobody in China has done it, unless he traveled at some time in his life to the United States.