Conference turris::cooks

The "peanut butter" taste is sesame seeds, which are a component of the breading
and also part of the sweet-and-sour sauce.  I think the basic procedure is the
same as for crispy orange-flavored beef (which was asked about a few notes
ago).  With General Tso's (how I've always seen it spelled) Chicken, you also
use sesame seeds in the breading and probably also in the intial stir-fry when
preparing the sauce.  The veggies that I've seen include finely sliced garlic
cloves and scallion rounds.

Yen's Wok in Hudson, NH do a wonderful General Tso's Chicken.  Ming Garden
(Nashua, NH, Framingham, MA, Chestnut Hill, MA, and perahps elsewhere) have
the same dish but they call it Jordan Chicken for some reason.

--PSW

    This is my husband's favorite, and when we asked about it at the
    restaurant we go to, the chef said to use dark chicken meat, that to
    use white meat changes the taste and texture because of the fat
    content.
    
    TW
    

    i hate to disagree with .2 but the royal mandarin in marlboro told me
    that they use the tenderloin of the chicken breast.  they use lots of
    garlic and have a sweet sauce that is somewhat spicy also,... in their
    version of general tso's chicken.  i too would love a recipe.  maybe we
    should write to bon appetite' and see if they can get the recipe from
    some restaurant.  every idea i have seen in this file have been
    different.

    After about a year of looking I got this recipe from Joyce Chen's
    daughter-in-law.  I've experimented with it and changed it to my
    own taste.  
    
    Ingredients:
    
    Joyce Chen                         Me
    4 boneless chicken breasts      6 boneless chicken thighs (juicier)
    1/4 cup water chestnut flour    1/4 cup water chestnut flour
    one beaten egg                  one beaten egg
    oil for frying                  oil for frying
    
    Spicy Ginger Sauce:
    2 tsp. tomato sauce             2 tsp. tomato sauce
    1/2 tsp. minced garlic          1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
    5 tsp. sugar                    5 tsp sugar
    1/4 tsp. salt                   1/4 tsp salt
    one SMALL onion, FINELY         one SMALL onion, FINELY
    chopped                         chopped
    2 cups pork broth               1 cup pork broth
    1/2 tsp. hot pepper flakes      1/2 tsp. hot pepper flakes
    1/2 tsp. chopped ginger root    1 1/2 tsp chopped ginger root
    2 Tbs. cornstarch               2 Tbs. cornstarch
                                    a little broccoli
    
    Cut the chicken into one inch cubes.  Dip the chicken in the water
    chestnut flour, then beaten egg, then flour again.  Heat 2 cups of
    oil in a wok until almost smoking.  Fry the chicken in the oil in
    small batches until it's golden brown on all sides.  Set the chicken
    aside.  Fry the broccoli for about a minute in the oil.
    
    Remove all but two Tbs. oil from  the wok.  Stir fry the onion until it
    is clear.  Add the garlic, hot pepper flakes and ginger.  Add the
    broth, sugar, and tomato sauce and simmer for several minutes.  Add the
    corn starch and cook until the sauce has the desired consistency.  Pour
    the sauce over the chicken and broccoli and serve.  
    

    I made this chicken last night using the Orange Beef recipe. I believe
    the recipe is under Chile Beef a few notes back.  I added
    ground sesame seeds to the marinading sauce.  I may not have added
    enough sesame seeds as I did not get the peanut taste I previously
    mentioned in a prior note. Actually it was an earthy flavor when I had 
    it out. But, this recipe was close.  I enjoyed it.  I'll try this one too.
    
    Thanks.
    
    Flo

RE: .5

For water chestnut starch, substitute cornstarch.  In a highly flavored dish
such as this, chicken broth ought to be a reasonable substitute for pork
broth, especially since it's a chicken dish.

--PSW

    .5 
    Water chestnut flour is available in Chinese food markets.  I've
    found it at Joyce Chen's and at several locations in Boston's
    Chinatown.  Cornstarch doesn't give quite the same result (IMHO).
    
    Pork broth--you make it

    RE: .6
    
    To get that flavor try using some sesame oil.  Perhaps substitute
    some or all of the oil used in the recipe.  I think you will find
    a big difference.
    
    Judy

    re .10
    Sesame oil is used for flavoring.  The oil in this recipe is used
    for frying.  If you want to add a few drops of sesame oil after the
    dish is cooked for flavoring, it might be an interesting variation.
    But, do not substitute sesame oil for cooking oil. I believe that 
    you will find that the earthy flavor comes from using the water
    chestnut flour.  

You definitely can't substitute sesame oil for the vegetable oil in this
recipe.  Sesame oil has a very low flash point and will burn before it gets hot
enough for this dish.  As suggested, you can dribble a few drops on the dish
just before serving it.

--PSW

    i tried this recipe over the weekend.  i used four (4) cloves of small
    garlic and i love garlic, lots of it, but i found that that was a 'bit'
    too much.  i will use three (3) next time.  i also did not need two (2)
    tablespoons of cornstarch with the one (1) cup of broth.  two (2)
    Teaspoons did just fine.
    
    i also found the recipe to be a bit bland. i did not have ginger root
    to slice and used double the amount of the ground ginger to supplement. 
    the red pepper flakes were just the right amount however, i did feel it
    was lacking something, what i'm not too sure about.
    
    i realize that when using alternative ingredients that it will not come
    out how the original noter specified.. for her version, or the original
    one but i'de still like to know what we could do to add a bit more
    flavor in the sauce IMHO--  got any ideas?
    
    
    i really did enjoy this dish and would like to make it again... help!
    
    cj

RE: .13

>    i also found the recipe to be a bit bland. i did not have ginger root
>    to slice and used double the amount of the ground ginger to supplement. 
>    the red pepper flakes were just the right amount however, i did feel it
>    was lacking something, what i'm not too sure about.

It probably was lacking that special flavor of fresh ginger root.  Ground
ginger isn't really a viable substitute for fresh ginger in this sort of
recipe.

--PSW

  Do you lose any of the "fresh ginger taste" if you slice up the ginger and
store it in sherry?

--Sharon

RE: .15

I haven't tried that, but I suspect not.  There is a definite change in taste
when a fresh ginger root is dried and ground, though.

--PSW

    I always store my fresh ginger in sherry.  I do not think you lose a
    thing.  There is usually sherry in the recipe anyway.
    
    Also ginger root will mold if you don't store it that way.
    
    Mary Lou
    

Another hint that I learned is to freeze the ginger root, and as you need
to use it, just grate it frozen....works wonderfully and still retains its
flavor!

general rule of thumb for using the three most-popular forms of ginger:

always use fresh ginger in any savory dish made with meat.  use crystalized 
ginger in sweet dishes.  use powdered ginger in baked, sweet goodies like 
cookies and cakes.  crystalized ginger can also be used in cakes and cookies,
but it is NOT a substitute for the powdered ginger when powdered is 
specifically listed as an ingredient.  All three forms of ginger are 
unique in flavor and have their uses....can you imagine ginger snaps made of 
fresh ginger?

Now, when you talk about pickled ginger.....8^}

    I tried the recipe in 2629.4 several weeks ago and although I thought
    it was good it wasn't what I had expected. The General Tzou's 
    chicken I'm used to is from Chen Du II in Westboro. The taste is
    a little like the one in .4 but its just not the same! Chen Du's
    sauce is much darker, dark brown/black rather than a light brown and
    the taste isn't the same althought I don't know what's different about
    it. 
    
    Does anyone else out there have any other recipes for General Tzou's
    that might be more similar to the one I'm used to?
    
    Does anyone have a good Orange sauce recipe?
    							Cathy

RE: .20

To get a darker sauce, try adding a small amount of soy sauce to the broth.

--PSW

    
    Well for those of you who are interested I tried the recipe for general
    tso's chicken a couple nites ago and in my opinion it is very simliar
    to general gao's but not the same.  I think that the sauce for most of
    the general gao's that I have had has been much darker.  So in making
    my version of general tso's I substituted brown sugar for white sugar
    (in the posted recipe) but that still wasn't dark enough - I think I 
    will go to a very large bookstore and look for the recipe....
    
    thanks
    will

    
    The ingredient your missing may not be just soy sauce, but _thick_ soy
    sauce.  It's an almost molasses consistency, and will darken up 
    anything nicely.  I use it on fried rice, it's great.  You can 
    probably pick it up at any oriental market.
    
    It's simply called Thick Soy sauce.
    
    Regards, Larry

    The recipe for General Gao's Chicken  that I posted is the version
    that is served at Joyce Chen's in Cambridge.  I've also had it
    prepared the same way at the Nanking Village in Watertown except
    they added shrimp chips.  The Yangtze River in Littleton prepared
    the brown sauce variety.  The standard Chinese Szechuan brown sauce
    consists of soy sauce, sherry, ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes.
    In sweet and sour dishes, this is augmented by a sweet and sour sauce
    of vinegar, sugar and soy sauce.  Every kitchen is going to prepare
    dishes in their own fashion.  My advice would be to become familiar
    with the tastes of each of the ingredients in the Chinese sauces, go
    to the restaurant and do some culinary reverse engineering.  Thick
    soy sauce is one possibility (note .22); another is Hoisin sauce--that
    would darken and sweeten it.  
    
    Good luck,
    Eliot

	I've been experimenting with variations to "General XXX Chicken"
recipes for years. I finally hit on one which combined aspects of other
recipes with ideas of my own. It came out really good. So I wanted to write
down what I did and make it available to anyone else interested.
	Using this recipe, the chicken remained crisp (no easy feat!). The
sauce was light, flavorful, but not overpowering. If you like broccoli with
your General XXX Chicken, I'd recommend steaming it separately and serving it
with the chicken. One slight variation to this recipe would be to sprinkle
additional chopped scallions at the end (so they'd remain crisp and add some
color and texture).
 
		CHINESE - GENERAL XXX'S CHICKEN (XXX = "TSO" or "GAO", etc.)
		-------------------------------
 
MISC. INGREDIENTS:
 
2    whole chicken breasts (1 - 1 1/2 lbs.)
6+   dried hot whole chili peppers (or chopped, depending on how hot you like)
2-4  scallions, chopped (or diced small onion)
1-2  cup lotus root starch
2    tsp cornstarch
1    tsp sesame oil
 
BATTER:					SEASONING SAUCE:
 
1    egg				1/2 cup chicken broth or boullion
1/4  cup beer				5 cloves minced garlic
2    Tb. light soy sauce		1 Tb. minced ginger root
1/4  cup flour				1 Tb. cider vinegar
1/4  cup cornstarch			3 Tb. brown sugar
1/2  tsp baking powder			4 Tb. light soy sauce
1/2  tsp salt				2 Tb. Chinese cooking wine
1/4  tsp white pepper
 
DIRECTIONS:

1. Mix the seasoning sauce. Make sure sugar dissolves. Place in the fridge
   until needed (can keep for a day or two if necessary).
 
2. Skin and bone the chicken (if necessary).  Cut into 1-1/2" x 2" strips.
 
3. Mix batter. Add chicken, tossing to coat.  Cover and chill for
   1/2 hour.
 
4. Roll each piece of battered chicken in lotus root starch. Arrange chicken
   on wax paper. (Can also use cornstarch, water chestnut flour, or rice
   flour here, but won't be as crispy as lotus root starch).
 
5. Heat 2-3" of oil in a pan until very hot.  Fry chicken for 30 seconds (or
   until lightly golden brown), several pieces at a time. Drain well with
   paper towels.
 
6. Reheat oil over high heat until very hot.  Refry chicken until crispy
   and golden brown.  Drain again on paper towels.
 
7. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in wok over medium heat.  Fry dried chiles until
   they start to turn brown. Quickly add the scallions or onions. When onions
   are soft (20-30 seconds), add the seasoning sauce plus the 2 tsp cornstarch
   and 1 tsp sesame oil. Stir constantly until sauce begins to gel and thicken.
   Add the cooked chicken and quickly toss to coat all the pieces and turn off
   the heat. Immediately remove to a serving platter.

   Serve with white rice. Makes 2-4 servings.

>4. Roll each piece of battered chicken in lotus root starch. Arrange chicken
>   on wax paper. (Can also use cornstarch, water chestnut flour, or rice
>   flour here, but won't be as crispy as lotus root starch).
    
    Roll the BATTERED chicken in the lotus root starch?  I would imagine
    the batter to be sort of goopy and hard to "roll" in starch.   I guess
    it must be a thicker consistency than the batter I would use for, say,
    tempura, or fish and chips.  
    
    Is the starch coating the secret to making it crispy outside?
    

�    Roll the BATTERED chicken in the lotus root starch?  I would imagine
�    the batter to be sort of goopy and hard to "roll" in starch.   
    
    I don't think it would be much different than making something like
    chicken fried steak where you dip the steak in beaten eggs before
    dredging it in flour.

    	Yes, this batter is fairly thick and clings to the chicken pieces
    as you roll them in the lotus root starch. This starch is not powdery
    like flour but fairly granular. This plus the double-frying contributes
    to the crispness. The Chinese man who runs the Joyce Chen grocery store
    in Amherst, N.H. was the one who suggested I do it this way, saying
    that some Chinese restaurants use this technique to keep the chicken
    crispy. Of course, I was standing there with a box of lotus root starch
    in my hand asking him how to make a batter out of the stuff at the
    time.

    
    WOW .25 was great!  I made it last night... I used cornstarch
    rather than lotus root starch (Joyce Chen closed early due to the
    storm and I wanted to make it right away) but it came out very
    crispy and crunchy... I did fry it longer than you mentioned, so 
    maybe that is why.  The seasoning sauce came out nice and sticky,
    just like the real thing.   Yum!

    
    Oh, re .19
    I use preserved ginger root for Chicken Ginger... I think it 
    tastes better because you use big julienne slices
    and I think fresh is a little too bitter for that dish.  It's
    also much quicker to prepare!

    The recipe in .4 calls for pork broth as an ingredient.  I've never
    seen this used before.  Is it something you make, or something you buy
    in an oriental grocery?
    
    Oh, and speaking of broth, whenever you're making chicken wings, cut
    the tips off and simmer them in water to make broth and freeze it for
    future needs.
    

    Pork broth can be made out of scraps and bones from pork just as you
    make chicken broth from chicken bones/scraps, beef broth from beef
    bones/scraps, etc.  Since pork is such a common meat in Chinese
    cooking, pork broth is more or less the default.  Chicken broth is an
    acceptable substitute, particularly in a dish such as General XXX's
    Chicken where chicken features as an ingredient anyway.
    
    --PSW

    If you're going to make the pork broth yourself, try baking/roasting
    the pork bones first, before boiling them up.  It enhances the flavour.
    

    RE: .33  by CCAD23::TAN 
    
    >If you're going to make the pork broth yourself, try baking/roasting
    >the pork bones first, before boiling them up.  It enhances the flavour.
    
    Ahh.  Something to do with the remains of a pork roast.
    

    
    Normally, you need to put the bones in the oven at around 225 degrees
    for 8-hours or so, but don't brown them.  You want to extract the
    marrow out of the bone, then use this as the base in a pot with the 
    carrots, onion, celery, etc. to make the broth.
    
    	-VT

    RE: .35
    
    Not for Chinese broth, you don't.  You want a broth that has the meat
    flavor, but you don't want it tainted by other flavorings from the
    vegetables.  It needs to be neutral so that it won't clash with or mask
    the flavors from the vegetable and other ingredients in the dish to
    which it will be added.
    
    --PSW

I could not remember my recipe that is below so I tried another "version".
Surpringly, my husband commented on how much it tasted like the chinese
"General what's his name" so I thought I would enter it under the appropriate
note. 

This recipe is extremely easy and you will have all the ingredients in
your shelves already.  It also tastes about 15 minutes to make so have 
your rice and vegies done accordingly.

================================================================================
Note 3908.0          CHICKEN: Rosemary/Sherry Glazed Chicken           4 replies
FMAJOR::WALTER "used to be Aquilia"                  28 lines   1-MAR-1994 13:55
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The original recipe for this comes from Bon Appetite' but I had modified it 
to what was in the cabinets.  The sauce makes a gravy with the flour and the
dish comes out tasting like a roasted chicken and very moist.  


					MODIFIED GENERAL RECIPE
					-----------------------
1/4 cup olive oil				3 T veg oil
5 cloves garlic					5 cloves garlic
2/3 cup sherry					1/4 cup sweet vermouth
2/3 cup chicken broth				1/2 cup chicken broth
4 chicken breasts (although any			2 chicken breasts (sliced 
         chicken pieces will do)		into four quarters)
1 T crushed rosemary				1 t pepper
1 T tomato paste				1 T catsup
						1-2 t chinese mustard
						2 T sherry

Heat large teflon fry pan (12") over stove on medium heat.

Slice garlic cloves and saute till soft, but not brown, in oil.
Take out garlic slices.  Season chicken with salt and pepper, dredge in 
flour, shake off excess and brown in oil till just brown.  DO NOT OVER
COOK.  Mix together chicken broth and 1/4 cup vermouth, add to pan and
boil lightly until mixture thickens.  Mix together sherry, catsup and 
chinese mustard.. add to pan.  Mix gently, turn heat to low. Add garlic 
slices to top of chicken.   Turn over a couple of times in broth to
moisten chicken.  

This recipe was midely hot.  To make hotter, add more chinese mustard.
I would suggest mixing (as stated earlier) the catsup mixture and taste
for hotness before actually placing in the broth mixture.

Enjoy,

cj

    	Tried the recipe in .25 the other day. It was excellent.
    
    	Ray