General Tso's Chicken

Who doesn't like General Tso's Chicken? It's a classic sweet and hot Chinese dish that combines the satisfaction of fried, crispy chicken and the flavor of a sugary, chili-based sauce. Betsy, who is partial to the dish, asked "Who is this General Tso, anyway"? Well, it turns out that this classic of Chinese cuisine isn't so classic after all. The dish is unheard of in China and appears to make it's first world appearance in New York in the 1970's. Two restaurants claim the invention: Peng Teng on East 44th Street and Shun Lee Palace. According to Wikipedia, Peng Teng's claim seems more likely. So what's with the name?

There are several stories concerning the origin of the dish. In her book The Chinese Kitchen, Eileen Yin-Fei Lo states that the dish originates from a simple Hunan chicken dish, and that the reference to "Zongtang" in "Zuo Zongtang chicken" was not a reference to Zuo Zongtang's given name, but rather a reference to the homonym "zongtang", meaning "ancestral meeting hall" (Chinese: 宗堂; pinyin: zōngtáng). Consistent with this interpretation, the dish name is sometimes (but considerably less commonly) found in Chinese as "Zuo ancestral hall chicken" (traditional Chinese: 左宗堂雞; simplified Chinese: 左宗堂鸡; pinyin: Zuǒ Zōngtáng jī). (source)

So what we have here is a Hunan-inspired Chinese-American dish that spread quickly through North America. Not as authentic as I had hoped to discover, but still delicious. I haven't tried making it myself, but since I have been cooking with the Wok a lot lately I thought I might give this recipe a try:

General Tso's Chicken

4 Chicken legs with thighs
1/2 c Soy sauce
1/2 c Distilled white vinegar
1 cl Garlic; minced
1 ts Ginger root; Peeled & minced
1 ts Cornstarch
1 lg Egg; beaten lightly
1/3 c Corn oil
4 Dried hot chilis; seeded

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, 1/2 c 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 T 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. Serves 4. (source)

I'll report back with results when I've tried it!

-t