General Tso's Chicken

I know that the General Tso's chicken you get from American takeout places probably isn't a very authentic Chinese dish, but it's one of my favorites.  I thought I'd give making it at home a shot.  This recipe was good, but not quite on the nose with the flavor of the takeout version.  The sauce had a very strong ginger flavor and there was something else missing that I can't quite place yet.  The recipe below includes changes that I made to the recipe as well as some additional changes I would make the next time I try this.


General Tso's Chicken
Adapted from Slashfood

1 lb. boneless chicken thighs or breasts, trimmed and cut into bite sized pieces
1/3 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten


1. Heat peanut or vegetable oil in pan or fryer to 375 degrees.
2. Whisk together eggs and cornstarch. 
3. Coat pieces of chicken in egg/cornstarch mixture and drop into hot oil.
4. Fry until golden brown, about 7-10 minutes.  Make sure the pieces are pretty brown, you want the coating to be a little crunchy.  
5. Remove chicken pieces from pan/fryer and put on paper towel lined plate, set aside.


For the sauce:
4 tsp cornstarch
4 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
5 tbsp sugar 
3 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp minced ginger
1 tsp crushed red chili pepper, or more to taste

1. Combine ingredients in small sauce pan. 
2. Whisk the sauce over medium heat until it starts to simmer on the edges and thickens.  Remove from heat.
3. Add chicken, coat with sauce.  Put chicken on a tray in the oven at 450 degrees for about 5 minutes to carmelize the sauce a bit and make the chicken crispy again.

4. Serve over rice and add any steamed vegetables you want.  Typically it's served with broccoli but I went with green beans.