Hello! Hi everyone, Wesley here. Today we're diving back into our series dedicated to reproducing foods from Americanized Chinese cuisine with a quick revisit to a Chic-Fil-A recipe that we did a few weeks back. Earlier last month I took my best shot at reproducing the Chic-Fil-A Siracha sweet chili sauce, which turned out so well that the next day I ended up using the leftovers of that sauce to make a stir fry for some friends, which got me thinking that this is actually probably the best use of this sauce. So! Today I'm revisiting one of the VERY early recipes on this channel for General Tso's chicken, so that we may do a Chic-Fil-A Siracha adaptation of this dish. For those not familiar, General Tso's Chicken (or often times, simply just General Chicken) is one of more iconic (if not the MOST iconic) fried chicken stir fry dishes found in Americanized Chinese cuisine. It most iconically features a sweet and savory glaze that coats a fried popcorn chicken, and is often optionally paired with stir fried veggies to round out the dish.
Because of its LONG history here in the states, there are now MANY different versions of this dish that exist all throughout Chinese American cuisine, all varying on the same theme. Some containing broccoli, some sweeter than others, some are often spicier or more savory, but all consistently including a fried popcorn chicken, stir fried with veggies, and coated in a sweet and savory glaze. Personally, I might even make the argument that dishes like sweet and sour chicken, orange chicken, honey sesame chicken, and just about half of the panda express menu all stem from an inspiration from (you guessed it), general chicken. So! Today we're going to take this Siracha forward Chic-Fil-A dipping sauce that we've created, then use the sugars that are very present in it to reduce it into a glaze, so that we may use it to form a Siracha Sweet Chili General Chicken. Hope you try it.
Serves 2-3
INGREDIENTS
4 cloves garlic
1 inch (about 1 tbsp) ginger
1/2 medium white onion
1/2 red bell pepper
3 medium chicken thighs
1 cup potato starch
64 oz fryer oil
peanut oil
INGREDIENTS (marinade)
4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce (or 2 tbsp full sodium soy sauce)
1 tbsp shaoxing wine
1/2 tsp white pepper
INGREDIENTS (glaze)
4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce (or 2 tbsp full sodium soy sauce)
1 tbsp sesame oil
4 tbsp Siracha sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar
4 tbsp sweet chili sauce
2 tbsp honey
PREP
CRUSH and mince the garlic, set aside
MINCE the ginger, set aside
LARGE DICE the onion, set aside
LARGE DICE the red bell pepper, set aside
LARGE DICE the chicken thigh, then combine with all marinade ingredients and let marinate for 15 minutes or up to 30 minutes
COMBINE the marinated chicken with the potato starch (holding back as much liquid as possible)
COMBINE all glaze ingredients, set aside
ON THE STOVE
HEAT the fryer to 350F then fry the chicken 20-25 pieces at a time until golden brown
REMOVE the fryer oil, reheat the wok as hot as possible, add 4 tbsp peanut oil and long yao
ADD the garlic and ginger and saute for 15 seconds until fragrant
ADD the bell pepper and saute for 1-2 minutes
ADD the onion and saute for an additional 2-3 minutes
REMOVE the veggies, then heat the wok over medium low heat and add the glaze mixture
REDUCE for 4-5 minutes until thickened, then remove from heat, add the chicken and veggies to the wok, and toss to combine