General Tso’s Chicken (sort of)

We tried to order Chinese food the other night and failed. A friend mentioned that deliveries to area Chinese restaurants from their suppliers have stopped. That made me want Chinese food even more than usual. I made a version of this tonight, though I didn’t quite get the color/crisp in the picture on the recipe and it’s not the battered and fried version. I made my own dark soy sauce and cooked fresh green beans instead of doing the cabbage listed. While it wasn’t quite what I was expecting, it was still delicious! For sure more akin to chicken and green beans than any version of General Tso’s I’ve had in a restaurant. I blame Saoirse Ronan!

The Recipe

https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/chicken-thighs-recipes/saoirse-ronans-general-tsos-chicken/

Alterations

  • I used chili paste to get a little of the chili flavor where I didn’t have the correct chilis.
  • I cooked green beans in water in a separate pan and tossed them in after everything else was cooked.
  • I used corn starch instead of potato starch.
  • I didn’t have green onions, so I used white and caramelized them after the chicken was cooked, then tossed in grated garlic and ginger.
  • Now I know golden caster sugar is the same / similar to brown sugar!
  • To make the dark soy sauce, I found a recipe that was 1 cup soy sauce, 3/4 cup brown sugar, and corn starch dissolved in water. Stir over low heat in a pan until thickened. It probably would have been better a little thicker, so keep an eye out for a better recipe or, you know, buy dark soy sauce!
  • I served this with basmati rice cooked in a Ninja Foodi following the recipe in the Ninja cookbook.
  • Had I followed the directions in the recipe I could have maybe achieved the correct doneness, but I agree I couldn’t get the wok hot enough to do it with one pan.

Videos

This video helps fill in why it’s called Soirse Ronan’s General Tso’s chicken and also includes the video on how to make the dish. Having eaten Chinese food in the UK and Ireland, I agree it’s not the same!

Did you know there’s a documentary about General Tso’s?