General Tso's Chicken

[dighn]

So? What do you want, a (fortune) cookie?

so what? i want to try it some day, but it's not very common around here. plenty of lemon chicken though.

also fortune cookies are neither good nor authentic and serve no purpose whatsoever

 

[dank69]

"Pop" is a hick thing. We say soda in the civilized world

ftfy

 

[Engineer]

You mean Coke?

Coke is a brand of pop but there are many brands and flavors of pop.

And as for the OP, what the hell man? I'm now dying for some Chinese chicken...either GTC or Sesame Chicken. Damnit!

 

[sjwaste]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Chinese_cuisine



the guy is a hall-of-famer, but just because i agree with him doesn't mean i'm going to stop eating it

Why should you? Authenticity isn't a requirement for something to be good. American cuisine, by and large, is built on borrowing, fusing, adapting, and localizing the "authentic" cooking of other cultures.

Sometimes it results in General Tso's Chicken at some hole in the wall, other times its hot and cold foie gras from the Inn at Little Washington. The only authenticity they have is as American food - a phrase that really hasn't been a pejorative in about 20 years.

My folks are quite literally off the boat from Italy. They won't eat or flat out dislike anything that's not authentic to their little region. Drives me insane.

 

[slugg]

Anyone really wants some right now? There's this Chinese Food place ~10 minutes away that makes the best GTC. Worth the drive?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9kwmXwLTNo

I'm ordering some now. Because of you. Oh and fuck you for posting this.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

And this has been another food thread, brought to you by Anandtech Off Topic.

The "Why don't you just take 3 hours and make it all yourself" Guy

The recipe I quoted takes 15 minutes, about $12-15 in ingredients, feeds a family of four twice, and tastes a lot better than the crap most "Chinese" places sell.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

You lost me at the House of Tsang General Tso's sauce. I want a good recipe where even the sauce is from scratch. I have a great on for Bourbon Chicken and it's one of my favorite things to cook and eat.

Was trying to keep it simple, but if you want a from scratch general tsos sauce recipe, this one is pretty good:

What you will need:
-Vegetable oil
- 2-4 tbsp chopped chives (green onion)
- 1-2 cloves garlic Garlic
- a handful of whole red chiles (5-8)
- 1-2 strips of Orange zest
- 1/2c Sugar
-1/4 tsp Ginger (ground)
-3-4 tbsp Chicken broth
-1 tbsp vinegar (white or rice)
-2-3 tsp of sesame and peanut oil (each)
-corn starch
-1/4 cup Water

Heat a couple tablespoons vegetable oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add the green onion, garlic, whole chiles, and orange zest, and cook until the garlic is golden and the chiles have gained good color. Add the sugar, the ginger, chicken broth, vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and peanut oil; bring to a boil and cook for a few minutes.

Dissolve 2 teaspoons of cornstarch into the water, and stir into the sauce. Boil and cook until the sauce thickens and is no longer cloudy.

Use sauce immediately for stir frying or store for later use.

 

[JM Aggie08]

I'm all for making my own meals. Hell, I cook 6/7 days of the week.

BUT...one doesn't simply recreate delicious Chinese takeout.

 

[HomerJS]

never had general tso's, and i'm chinese. i am craving some bourbon chicken though.

Its one of my favorites. Whenever I traveled to a new city I would look for a chinese restaurant just to try theirs. Years ago I was going to San Francisco. I was thinking "oh boy, the most famous Chinatown in the country. The general tso is going to be really good". Went to 5-6 places, checked menu in window and nobody had it. I finally asked and discovered it doesn't exist.

Its some shit made up for us Americans. Who cares, its still good. Don't order often cause too fattening.

 

[Zee]

Why buy GTC when you can make your own and have it taste a lot better?

Simple recipe:

Meat (chicken or sliced steak)
Veggies (broccoli, red/green peppers, onion, chives, snow peas)
House of Tsang General Tso's sauce
2 tablespoons water
Cornstarch (optional)

Cook meat in pan on high heat to ~80% done in small amount of light olive oil

Add veggies

Add sauce

Add water

Cover and reduce heat to medium low, cook for ~8-10 minutes.

Enjoy.

Serve with rice or some other side.

You can make it if you like but it wont taste better

 

[Blackjack200]

Also, high heat and olive oil don't mix.

 

[JM Aggie08]

You can make it if you like but it wont taste better

You're damn right it won't!

 

[Vdubchaos]

If you live in CT, Shanghai Gourmet is probably the best Asian/Chinese place around.

Their GTC is amazing.....but everything there is.

 

[Vdubchaos]

Was trying to keep it simple, but if you want a from scratch general tsos sauce recipe, this one is pretty good:

What you will need:
-Vegetable oil
- 2-4 tbsp chopped chives (green onion)
- 1-2 cloves garlic Garlic
- a handful of whole red chiles (5-8)
- 1-2 strips of Orange zest
- 1/2c Sugar
-1/4 tsp Ginger (ground)
-3-4 tbsp Chicken broth
-1 tbsp vinegar (white or rice)
-2-3 tsp of sesame and peanut oil (each)
-corn starch
-1/4 cup Water

Heat a couple tablespoons vegetable oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add the green onion, garlic, whole chiles, and orange zest, and cook until the garlic is golden and the chiles have gained good color. Add the sugar, the ginger, chicken broth, vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and peanut oil; bring to a boil and cook for a few minutes.

Dissolve 2 teaspoons of cornstarch into the water, and stir into the sauce. Boil and cook until the sauce thickens and is no longer cloudy.

Use sauce immediately for stir frying or store for later use.

You forgot the frying of chicken part. GTC has friend chicken

 

[pontifex]

My 2 favorite chinese dishes are General Tso's and Sweet and Sour Chicken

 

[JM Aggie08]

My 2 favorite chinese dishes are General Tso's and Sweet and Sour Chicken

I would substitute Cashew Chicken for the SS Chicken. Drown it in some hot oil...mmmmmmmm.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Why should you? Authenticity isn't a requirement for something to be good. American cuisine, by and large, is built on borrowing, fusing, adapting, and localizing the "authentic" cooking of other cultures.

Except once you try the authentic stuff, you will understand why the fake stuff is so bad. With that said I'm Taiwanese and I freaking love Panda Express. I ate it every single day of my final year in grad school. EVERY DAY. Two meals at least. I looked forward to it every day. I also look forward to my next Asia trip where I can gobble down some Din Tai Fung dumplings and drink some real Pearl Milk Tea.

Its one of my favorites. Whenever I traveled to a new city I would look for a chinese restaurant just to try theirs. Years ago I was going to San Francisco. I was thinking "oh boy, the most famous Chinatown in the country. The general tso is going to be really good". Went to 5-6 places, checked menu in window and nobody had it. I finally asked and discovered it doesn't exist.

Its some shit made up for us Americans. Who cares, its still good. Don't order often cause too fattening.

Chinatown is meh for food. Maybe R&G Lounge and Golden Gate Bakery are the only stops worth eating at, but the rest? You'll get better food in the "real" Chinatown in the Sunset/Richmond in SF.

 

[Zee]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Zee View Post
You can make it if you like but it wont taste better
You're damn right it won't!

I like GTC. What im saying is theres nothing in his recipe that would make his GTC better than the way its done in almost any restaurant.

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

love americanized chinese food

my friend owned a place and they had a cheesesteak egg roll. yum

 

[Sho'Nuff]

You forgot the frying of chicken part. GTC has friend chicken

I didn't forget it. I intentionally left it out. I did say my recipe was healthier than the original, didn't I?

Ah fuck it. If you guys want to each shitty fried cat . . . er chicken. Fine with me. I've never had take out Chinese that I have thought was even remotely close to being good. Granted, I live in the great white northeast, so that may have something to do with it.

 

[sdifox]

And this has been another food thread, brought to you by Anandtech Off Topic.

Starring:

The "Why don't you just take 3 hours and make it all yourself" Guy

and

The "That isn't real food" Guy

Stay tuned, we have a special guest:

The "Why not have it delivered and tip 40%" Guy!

lulz nicely done.

 

[QueBert]

Only on ATOT would someone say home made TSO's always better than proceed to type their recipe where the chicken isn't even FRIED. If I went to a Chinese place and ordered TSO and got baked chicken I might drive my car thru the front door and run the cook over. Let someone open a spot where they don't fry the chicken for this dish, I bet it will stay in business about 3 days before having to shut down due to lack of customers.

"healthy" TSO?? jebus I've heard it all now.

 

[dighn]

Its one of my favorites. Whenever I traveled to a new city I would look for a chinese restaurant just to try theirs. Years ago I was going to San Francisco. I was thinking "oh boy, the most famous Chinatown in the country. The general tso is going to be really good". Went to 5-6 places, checked menu in window and nobody had it. I finally asked and discovered it doesn't exist.

Its some shit made up for us Americans. Who cares, its still good. Don't order often cause too fattening.

don't get me wrong. i'm not saying it's bad or anything. i actually like americanized/westernized chinese food like honey garlic chicken or fake kung pao chicken or whatever. it's just that general tso's chicken is actually kind of rare around here (vancouver, which has a large asian presence). i just find it a little ironic because it's probably the most iconic "chinese food" there is.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

Only on ATOT would someone say home made TSO's always better than proceed to type their recipe where the chicken isn't even FRIED. If I went to a Chinese place and ordered TSO and got baked chicken I might drive my car thru the front door and run the cook over. Let someone open a spot where they don't fry the chicken for this dish, I bet it will stay in business about 3 days before having to shut down due to lack of customers.

"healthy" TSO?? jebus I've heard it all now.

For christ sake I didn't say mine was ALWAYs better. I just said that it was better. But this is ATOT, where all opinions are invalid and must be qualified with >3 letter accronyms.

Oh wait! That is another opinion. YRMV (your results may vary), DTAIS (don't trust anything I say), YMHIBIDGAF (you may hate it but I don't give a f*&k)

 

[Anubis]

Only on ATOT would someone say home made TSO's always better than proceed to type their recipe where the chicken isn't even FRIED. If I went to a Chinese place and ordered TSO and got baked chicken I might drive my car thru the front door and run the cook over. Let someone open a spot where they don't fry the chicken for this dish, I bet it will stay in business about 3 days before having to shut down due to lack of customers.

"healthy" TSO?? jebus I've heard it all now.

your opinion is invalid, you think serena williams is attractive