General Tso's Chicken

Sometimes I wonder why books are only $2 at the Christmas Tree Shop. And sometimes I actually get the chance to figure out why.

I once got a cupcake recipe book there that had a recipe for chocolate cupcakes but showed a photo of a vanilla cupcake. Ooops!

And then there was the book that Tom bought last year titled, "30 Minute Meals: A Commonsense Guide".

30 Minute Meals my butt! We've only cooked from it three times because it's taken well over 1.5 hours to make each meal!

So I will warn you, this meal could take a while (because you need to marinade the meat!). It will also take more time if you find out that you don't have Chinese rice wine as soon as you get home from the grocery store, causing you to have to go back out to get some.

Was the recipe worth the time? Maybe. It was a good recipe and it certainly had a little spice to it. What's even better though, is that you know exactly what is in it (unlike some of the Chinese food you may get when you order out).

General Tso's Chicken
From 30 Minute Meals: A Commonsense Guide

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 4 tablespoons lite soy sauce
• 3 teaspoons sesame oil
• 2 boneless chicken breasts, cut into cubes
• The zest from one orange
• 1/2 cup peanut oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chili flakes (or red pepper flakes)
• 2 tablespoons freshly chopped ginger
• 1 cup scallions, diced, plus extra to garnish
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Jasmine rice (or any other rice)

1. In a medium bowl combine the rice wine, cornstarch, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, and 2 teaspoons of sesame oil (the rest of the soy sauce and sesame oil will be used later in the cooking). Add the chicken, toss to coat, and marinade for at least 1 hour in the fridge.
2. Be sure to begin cooking the rice at the same time you begin heating the oil in step number 3.  
3. Heat the peanut oil on high in a large nonstick pan (or a wok if you're fancy enough to own one!). Remove the chicken from the marinade and stir fry it for two minutes at a time. You will need to work in batches. Chicken should be browned and cooked through. Remove the chicken from the pan and allow to drain in a colander over paper towels. 

1. Once all of the chicken is cooked, drain all but 1 tablespoon of oil from the pan. Reheat the pan over high heat. Add the red pepper flakes and ginger and fry for 10 seconds. Add the chicken back into the pan, as well as the scallions, sugar, orange zest, remaining soy sauce and sesame oil, and salt. Fry for 2-3 minutes. 
2. Serve chicken over warm rice and garnish with extra scallions.