General Tso's Chicken

Marinade & Sauce
1/2 C hoisin sauce
1 T tomato paste
1/4 C white vinegar
3 T soy sauce
3 T sugar
2 T cornstarch
1 1/2 C water
4 chicken breasts, cut into 1 in chunks

(I used just 2)

Whisk together marinade. Reserve 3T of marinade for the coating.


Take out 6T of marinade, place in ziplock with chicken and marinate for 30 min.

Sauce
1 T oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 T ginger, grated
1 t red pepper flakes
2 C marinade (take out 3 T for coating)

Heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic, ginger and pepper flakes until fragrant for 1 min.
Add almost 2C marinade, whisking until dark and thickened.
2 min. Cover and keep warm.

Coating
2 large egg whites
3/4 C cornstarch
1/4 C flour
1/4 t baking soda
3 T of remaining marinade
oil
Remove chicken from marinade and pat dry.

Whisk egg whites until foamy. Combine coating ingredients and remaining hoisin mixture. Toss chicken in egg whites until coated and dredge in cornstarch mixture.

Heat oil to 350F.


Fry until golden brown - about 3min.
Drain on paper towels.

Warm sauce until simmering and mix with chicken.

This came out very good! I wish it had a little more heat/kick, so I think next time I'll try cooking with chili pods.

I fried half of the chicken with beer batter and the other half with this coating recipe for a taste test. Dev and I enjoyed Both! The beer batter was light and crispy and the General's coating was denser, but crispy as well. Neither tasted oily and both coatings held up well with the sauce. I'd definitely make this again.
ENJOY!