General Tso's Chicken

Hi, my name is Erin, and I'm addicted to General Tso's Chicken and Hot and Sour Soup. [*hi erin*] Whenever I get sick, you can bet the first place I call is the local Chinese restaurant, sometimes even before I call a doctor when I'm really sick. This week I was craving the old General standby, so I decided to recreate one of my favorite takeout comforts at home. After finding a number of promising but very fattening deep fried versions via Tastespotting, I came across La Table De Nana's version, which called for a quick pan fry instead of deep frying. After adding sugar snap peas so I could at the very least claim to have eaten some veggies, this was one of the best mock takeout recipes I've ever tried at home.



Crispy Golden Chicken Pieces




Spicy Sauce



General Tso's Chicken, adapted and reprinted from La Table De Nana


1/4 cup brown sugar
3 tbsp. hoisin
3 tbsp. white vinegar
3 tbsp. ketchup
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 cup water
3-4 tbsp. cornstarch
1 lb chicken breasts, cut into 1" cubes
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. sesame oil
4 green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced.
1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger (use fresh if you have it on hand)
Hot red pepper flakes, to taste

1.In a bowl mix first 6 ingredients.
2.Dredge your chicken cubes in cornstarch. Shake off excess.
3.In a large skillet heat olive oil and fry chicken until done.
4. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.
5.In the same skillet heat sesame oil and quickly stir fry green onions, garlic and ginger.
6.Add the sauce mixture you have made and simmer until heated through.
7.Return chicken to pan and toss to coat with sauce. Continue cooking until heated through. Serve with rice.