Hello! Hi everyone, Wesley here. Today we are once again diving back into the wonderful, weird world of Asian fusion cuisine with a shot at just, one of the weirdest and strangest things that I've ever even learned existed, which is a General Tso's poutine. For those unfamiliar, poutine is a classic and iconic dish famously originating from Quebec Canada, featuring french fries and cheese curds topped with a brown gravy. Traditionally, the dish is known for its combination of its savory gravy, paired with crispy french fries, and of course, the iconic squeaky texture that comes from cheese curds. As with any dish that has reached the level of iconic cuisine like poutine has though, a great number of variations on this classic dish also exists, too. 

So, for our version today, we're gonna use this as an excuse to explore some of the fundamentals of double frying for our french fries and cheese curds, but then combine it with a sauce element taken directly from our General Tso's chicken recipe, making use of some mirin, hoisin sauce, doubanjiang, and dried Tian Jin peppers to create its savory and bright qualities that we all know and love. Finally, to pair with all of this because. I mean. why not. We're also going to make use of the tempura batter that was used in our General chicken recipe to instead coat and fry our cheese curds, yielding a crispy, squeaky, and savory poutine to live somewhere between pub snacks and Chinese takeout menus. Hope you try it.

 

Serves 2-3

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 cloves garlic

  • 1 inch (about 1 tbsp) ginger

  • 4-5 russet potatoes

  • 8oz cheese curds

  • 8-10 Tian Jin peppers

  • 64oz fryer oil

  • corn starch slurry (2 tbsp corn starch dissolved in water)

INGREDIENTS (tempura batter)

  • 1/4 cup corn starch

  • 1/4 cup AP flour

  • 1/2 cup seltzer water

  • 2 egg whites

INGREDIENTS (sauce)

  • 4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce (or 2 tbsp full sodium soy sauce)

  • 1 tb rice vinegar

  • 1 tbsp mirin

  • 1 tsp dark soy sauce

  • 1 tb doubanjiang

  • 1 tbsp hoisin

  • 1 tbsp brown sugar

PREP

  • CRUSH and mince 4 cloves of garlic, set aside

  • MINCE ginger, set aside

  • SCRUB the potatoes clean, then slice into strips and set aside in a bowl of cold water (remove and pat dry immediately before frying to prevent browning)

  • COMBINE all sauce ingredients, set aside

  • COMBINE all tempura batter ingredients, then add the cheese curds to coat

ON THE STOVE

  • HEAT the fryer to 325F, fry the potatoes for 5 minutes until lightly golden, then remove to a dry rack to cool for 5 minutes

  • REHEAT the fryer to 400F, then fry the potatoes for an additional 2-3 minutes until golden brown

  • REMOVE to a large mixing bowl immediately after frying and season with kosher salt and gochugaru (optional)

  • REHEAT the fryer to 375F, then add the battered cheese curds 12-16 at a time for 3-5 minutes until golden brown

  • REMOVE the fryer oil, then reheat the wok over medium heat, add 4 tbsp peanut oil and long yao

  • ADD the garlic, ginger, and Tian Jin peppers, then saute for 30 seconds until fragrant

  • ADD the sauce mixture and mix to combine for 1-2 minutes 

  • ADD the corn starch slurry and mix until a thickened sauce forms

  • SERVE with french fries and cheese curds, topped with general tso's sauce

 

tagged general chicken, general tso’s, general tsos, general tsos chicken, general tso’s poutine, poutine, asian fusion, woo can cook, cheese curd