Home with Catherine

Making my family’s takeout favorites at home is nothing new around our house; Best General Tso’s Chicken; made with battered crispy fried chicken pieces tossed in a sweet and sour, and spicy sauce. And, this traditional Asian dish is what we order every time we eat at our favorite restaurant. However, very similar to the Mandarin Fried Chicken Wings I always get rave reviews and plenty of requests for. 

This recipe is my family favorite meal; Best General Tso’s Chicken is battered crispy chicken pieces tossed in a sweet and spicy sauce. However, the secret ingredient is rice flour holds up with any of your favorite sauces. 

No need to cook the chicken twice, because you will be using my secret ingredient… rice flour!!

In the end results, I found that adding the rice flour to the chicken coating holds up better when tossing the chicken with the sauce. 

TIPS FOR THIS CHICKEN RECIPE

• Add additional chili pepper flakes for a spicier flavor.
• Do not overcrowd the while deep frying if you want to avoid the pieces of chicken from sticking or clumping together. However, I typically fry about 6 -8 pieces at a time.
• Serve immediately after tossing chicken pieces with sauce. However, if you using all-purpose flour, the coating gets softer as it sits.
• Using a frying thermometer is helpful but not needed. To avoid the chicken from burning. And, not cooking completely through, using the frying thermometer make sure your oil stays at 350°F. 
• Traditionally chicken breasts are used, but I prefer using the chicken thighs for a more moist and richer flavor.

The Best Oil for Deep-Frying

Although, you can use any type of oil, like baking, making salad dressing, or even sautéeing–where you can often get away with. And, the ideal oil to use is Peanut and canola for use in deep fryers because of their high smoke points and low level of saturated fat. However, with peanut oil smoke point at 450°F and canola oil at 400° F, these two oils are perfect for the frying process.

Deep-Frying Method: most foods are deep-fried, which happens to be 350° to 375°F.

At these temperatures, your breaded or battered foods will turn crispy, and golden brown. However, since cooking oil for deep frying should have a smoke point of at least 375°F. However, unrefined oils of any origin are not suitable for deep-frying. They simply have too low a smoke point, and because oils tend to be very expensive, they’re not practical. 

Equipment for Deep-Frying

If you do a lot of deep-frying, you may want to consider a dedicated fryer. Electric deep-fryers are available in several sizes and price ranges. However, they all have the distinct advantage of reducing the mess of deep-frying, as vented lids almost completely eliminate splattering. And, many units have filters that help reduce-but not entirely eliminate orders from frying. 

While you can fry with nearly any pot, certain equipment will offer the best chance of success for crispy, decadent morsels.

It’s easy to make your favorite restaurant dishes from your favorite restaurant. And, those delicious and savory crispy chicken hot and coated with a freshly made sauce that my family cannot resist and always come back for more. However, you’ll never go back to take out and instead pull out any of the numerous Asian recipes from your collection.

Airfryer Method: This is the one cooking method I like, because it is so much healthier. However, I use chicken wings for this recipe, I’m a wing girl. In our family, we usually call it Mandarin Fried Chicken Wings.

Best General Tso’s Chicken

Ingredients

• 6 cups canola oil for frying
• 2 lbs boneless skinless thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces (1″ cubes)
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten 
• salt and white pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup the rice flour, mochiko
• 1/2 cup arrowroot
• vegetable oil for frying
• 2 teaspoons sesame seeds
• 2 tablespoon green onions, sliced (optional)

For the Sauce

• 2 teaspoon canola oil
• 1 tablespoon garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoon grated fresh ginger root
• 1/2 cup chopped green onion
• 5 dried red pepper pods or crushed red chili peppers
• 2 tablespoon hoisin sauce
• 2 tablespoon brown sugar or Swerve brown sweetener
• 4 teaspoons sesame oil
• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup coconut aminos (tamari or dark soy sauce)
• 1 tablespoon arrowroot

Instructions

1. Heat 3 inches of oil in a deep pot to 350° F.
2. In a small dish add eggs, salt, and white pepper to taste. Beat together.
3. Mix together flour and arrowroot. Gradually add flour mixture to egg mixture to make a slurry. Set slurry aside.
4. Add chicken into the egg mixture, then coat in the flour mixture. Making sure all of the chicken pieces are well coated.
5. In batches, carefully drop in the chicken pieces; Fry 8-9 pieces of chicken at a time 5 minutes or until golden brown. Repeat with all of the coated chicken pieces. Remove chicken and let drain of excess oil on a paper towel-lined plate and to cool.
6. While the chicken is cooking, make the sauce.
7. Heat the 2 teaspoons of oil in a wok, large skillet or saucepan over high heat. 
8. Once hot enough, garlic and crushed red peppers. Cook until the garlic has turned golden and the chiles brighten. Add 1/2 cup sugar/sweetener, the ginger, vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and peanut oil; bring to a boil for 3 minutes.
9. Dissolve arrowroot into water.
10. Add the arrowroot liquid to the pan and bring to a simmer. Cook 2 to 3 minutes or until the sauce has thickened and is no longer cloudy from the arrowroot, about 1 minute.
11. Add the chicken piece to the pan and toss to coat with the sauce.
12. Plate, sprinkle chicken with sesame seeds and green onions, and serve with steamed rice or cauliflower rice, enjoy!

Notes

NO FRY THERMOMETER: You can test if the oil is hot enough by adding one piece of the chicken to the pan. If it bubbles and floats, the is the correct temperature.

If you are on a busy schedule, you can save time by making the sauce ahead of time and refrigerating the sauce and chicken for up to 3 days. However, this is one Asian dish that tastes even better if you reheat it the next day.

Other foods to serve the Best General Tso’s Chicken; noodles tossed with lightly steamed vegetables of your choices, such as broccoli, zucchini, squash, and spiralized veggies.

Types of soy sauce: coconut aminos are a type of soy sauce without soy. Tamari is low-sodium soy sauce and dark soy sauce lends a richer soy sauce flavor.

Avoid adding more arrowroot powder; once the sauce cools and it does not thicken to the desired thickness. Stick to 1 tablespoon of arrowroot and 1 tablespoon water.