Day 23: General Tso's Chicken

Basically, we've tried almost every other recipe in the Chinese section of my WW:Take Out Tonight cookbook, so why not this one. I was a little nervous about the chili pepper icon that was located next to the recipe, but I figured I could tweak the amount of spice I wanted to use. Actually, as it turns out, I only made this for Paul and I because he didn't get home until later and Austin was not willing to wait. Austin had leftover chimichangas and enjoyed them thoroughly. He also ate his weight in Musk Melon.

General Tso's Chicken(Serves 4)
1lb chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch chunks
5 tablespoons dry sherry
1 tablespoon & 2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon Oyster Sauce
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon Asian dark sesame oil
2 teaspoons Canola oil
1 tablespoon fresh Ginger, peeled and minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 scallions, chopped
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

Step 1: Combine chicken, 2 tablespoons sherry, 1 tablespoon cornstarch and oyster sauce in bowl. Let marinate for 5 minutes

Step 2: Combine remaining 3 tablespoons sherry, water, soy sauce, honey, rice vinegar, sesame oil, remaining 2 teaspoons cornstarch in small bowl and set aside.

Step 3: Heat a wok or deep skillet over med-high heat. Add oil and chicken. Stir fry until lightly browned(2-3 minutes).

Step 4: Add ginger, garlic,scallions and crushed red pepper until fragrant(about 30 sec)

Step 5: Add celery and bell pepper and stir fry until crisp tender(2-3 minutes).

Step 6: Stir in sherry mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture boil and thickens(1-2 minutes)

Calories: 207 WW: 4 points

Kitchen Play by Play: In Paul's words, " Wow, it looks like quite the production." There were a lot of ingredients and A LOT of measuring and chopping. I was interrupted several times by the kids, Paul, etc so I cannot accurately state how long prep actually was, but I would guess about 25 minutes. I used everything except the ginger. To make up for the lack of ginger, I added 2 cloves of garlic. I followed all the directions on cook time even with the chicken. I'm really starting to gain some poultry confidence :). I made some brown rice and scooped very nice size portions into bowls for the two of us.

The finished product
The Verdict:
Nicole: Pretty good for make at home Chinese. The veggies were still a little too crisp for me which meant I could taste them more, and I don't much care for red pepper or celery. The spice was definitely present. I took some tips from Man vs Food and just ate it really fast so that I couldn't really feel the spice. I gave myself a huge pat on the back for perfectly cooked chicken. It's about damn time. I give it a 4.

Paul-gives it a 4.5. "All it was missing was tiki lights and a Koi pond."