General Tso's Chicken Peng Teng
Submitted by zozo
The original General Tso’s chicken from Chef Peng: crisp-fried dark-meat chicken tossed in a tangy soy-and-vinegar sauce fired up with dried chilies. Savory and hot, not the sticky-sweet takeout version, and gluten-free with tamari.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
10 minCOOK
25 minREADY
40 minForget the sticky orange goo at the takeout counter. This is General Tso’s the way Hunan chef Peng Chang-kuei first made it: salty, sharply sour, and seriously hot, with no sugar anywhere in the bowl. The ‘Peng Teng’ in the name nods to the man who invented the dish.
It starts with dark meat. Boning out chicken legs gives you juicy, forgiving meat that stays tender through frying, unlike breast that dries out fast. A quick dip in beaten egg and cornstarch forms the thin, shattering crust.
Fry the pieces hot and fast until crisp, then pour off most of the oil and build the sauce right in the wok. Soy sauce, white vinegar, garlic, and fresh ginger hit the pan with whole dried chilies, and the fried chicken goes back in just long enough to soak up the tang and heat.
Pile it over rice and keep water handy; those chilies mean business.
Chef Tips
- Get the oil properly hot before frying, or the coating turns greasy instead of crisp.
- Toss the chicken in the sauce just before serving; let it sit and the crust goes soft.
- Use tamari in place of soy sauce to keep the whole dish gluten-free.
Variations
- Dial the heat up or down by adjusting how many dried chilies go in.
- Add sliced scallions and a splash of toasted sesame oil at the end for aroma.
- Toss in stir-fried broccoli or snow peas to round it into a full meal.
Ingredients
Directions
Bone the chicken legs, including the thighs by scraping the meat from the bone, working downward and keeping close to the bone.
Pull the meat down over the bone (pulling it inside out like a glove) and cut it free from the bone.
Discard the skin and cut the meat from each leg into 6 pieces.
In a bowl combine the soy sauce, vinegar, ½ cup water, the garlic and ginger root.
In another bowl, combine the egg and cornstarch and dip the chicken pieces.
Heat the oil in a wok or deep, heavy skillet until very hot, add the chicken and fry it for 4 to 6 minutes, or until it is crisp.
Transfer the chicken with tongs to paper towels to drain and pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the oil from the wok.
Add the soy sauce mixture, the chili peppers and the chicken and cook the mixture over moderately high heat for 2 minutes, or until heated through.
Transfer it to a heated serving dish.
Comments
Acebox, this is the original recipe from 1955 china. Everything you eat is Chinese/American. Simply put, sugar has been added to the recipe, and minor adjustments made so it will be more appropriate for American taste buds.