General Tso's Chicken

[petey]

Has anyone here had any success in making General Tso's Chicken?

[jkath]

If you have a Trader Joe's nearby, they have a General Tsao sauce. Perhaps that may be what you're looking for?

[suzyQ3]

Originally Posted by petey

Has anyone here had any success in making General Tso's Chicken?

I'm eager to try the recipe in Fushcia Dunlop's second book, "Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook: Recipes from Hunan Province," which I just received last week. Her first book, "Land of Plenty: A Treasury of Authentic Sichuan Cooking," is amazing. Thanks to Nicholas Mosher for his posts on this author.

As for TJ's sauce, it's great on salmon.

[petey]

Originally Posted by jkath

If you have a Trader Joe's nearby, they have a General Tsao sauce. Perhaps that may be what you're looking for?

I can do better than Trader Joes, I have two asian supermarkets not too far from me. I bought the sauce . T'm just trying to get the chicken cooked right. The batter on the outside of the chicken and how its cooked (deep fried presumably) .

There is a Trader Joes about 10 minutes from me . I went there once and was not very impressed. People always raved about the place. They dont sell anything that i cant find in a good supermarket and their prices are high.

[SizzlininIN]

Do a search as I remember someone else questioning this not long ago.......or check in the Chicken forum.

[silentmeow]

I fell in love with Gen. Tso's Chicken by MEAN CHEF. It can be found at recipezaar.com. Use search for the dish name and then find Mean's recipe. Apparently the recipe # does not work anymore. I triple the sauce. It is easy and I seem to have the ingredients on hand! I like the fact that the chicken can be made ahead and stored in the fridge overnight!

[Michelemarie]

I love this dish, however, I never wanted to make it because I think once I see how unhealthy it is I will feel guilty eating it, what I don't know won't hurt me (actually, in this case it will, but I'm pleading dumb).

[petey]

Originally Posted by Michelemarie

I love this dish, however, I never wanted to make it because I think once I see how unhealthy it is I will feel guilty eating it, what I don't know won't hurt me (actually, in this case it will, but I'm pleading dumb).

I have high cholesterol. Is it better i skip this recipe? I'm afraid to ask how healthy it really is. Rule of thumb, the better it tastes the less healthy it is.

[ncage1974]

Originally Posted by silentmeow

I fell in love with Gen. Tso's Chicken by MEAN CHEF. It can be found at recipezaar.com. Use search for the dish name and then find Mean's recipe. Apparently the recipe # does not work anymore. I triple the sauce. It is easy and I seem to have the ingredients on hand! I like the fact that the chicken can be made ahead and stored in the fridge overnight!

Mean Chef sure has a ton of good looking recipes over at recipezaar but for the life of me i can not find anything for tso chicken that he has posted.

ncage

[silentmeow]

It's under Meanie's General Tso Chicken. I just did the search and it's #8 down. It's had 143 reviews. I'm not plugging anything, I just like the recipe and have made it for my family who like it also!

[silentmeow]

Originally Posted by petey

I have high cholesterol. Is it better i skip this recipe? I'm afraid to ask how healthy it really is. Rule of thumb, the better it tastes the less healthy it is.

You are so right. I'm watching everything right now too! I only make this when my kids are home for winter break from college. Guilty I know, but it tastes so good.

[Feastingmadeeasy]

I make it all of the time, I have a excellent recipe that a friend of mine from Thailand who's father is Chinese. The recipe that I have is non-spicy but you can add red pepper flakes to make it spicy. Here is a direct link to see the photo of the one I made. General Tso's Chicken on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

I will post this recipe, as I am a new member, I am discover all of the features of the forum.

Originally Posted by petey

Has anyone here had any success in making General Tso's Chicken?

[petey]

Originally Posted by Feastingmadeeasy

I make it all of the time, I have a excellent recipe that a friend of mine from Thailand who's father is Chinese. The recipe that I have is non-spicy but you can add red pepper flakes to make it spicy. Here is a direct link to see the photo of the one I made. General Tso's Chicken on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

I will post this recipe, as I am a new member, I am discover all of the features of the forum.

Than k you for posting the pic and i look forward to you posting the recipe. Welcome to the forum

[Michael in FtW]

Originally Posted by petey

I have high cholesterol. Is it better i skip this recipe? I'm afraid to ask how healthy it really is. Rule of thumb, the better it tastes the less healthy it is.

Using this recipe for General Tso's Chicken as a guideline (serves 4):

The chicken broth can range between 0% cholesterol for most store bought brands to about 6mg for commercial condensed broth. Substituting chicken base for the broth will reduce the sauce reduction time - and is generally 0 Cholesterol (read the nutritional information on the labels).

1 whole egg contains about 215mg cholesterol - 99+% of that is in the yolk. Try substituting 2 egg whites in place of the whole egg for an essentially cholesterol free batter.

Now, to the chicken ... based on the nutritional information for chicken from NutritionData for broilersand fryers, based on 1oz servings for raw white and dark meat (boneless and skinless):

White meat has 16mg, dark meat has 22mg, cholesterol per ounce. So, for 3-lbs of chicken: white meat only would be about 768mg cholesterol, dark meat only would run about 1,056mg, a 50/50 mix would be about 912mg. Using the above recipe for 4 broken down to individual servings, it would run something like: 192mg white meat, 264mg dark meat, 228mg mixed - per serving.

Don't know what daily cholesterol level you are shooting for (USDA recommended daily intake is 300mg or less) but this might not be that unhealthy occasionally.

Of course - how accurate these numbers are depends on how accurate the information on NutritionData is, how accurately I interpreted the data, and my ability to perform basic math skills with a calculator.

[petey]

Originally Posted by Michael in FtW

Using this recipe for General Tso's Chicken as a guideline (serves 4):

The chicken broth can range between 0% cholesterol for most store bought brands to about 6mg for commercial condensed broth. Substituting chicken base for the broth will reduce the sauce reduction time - and is generally 0 Cholesterol (read the nutritional information on the labels).

1 whole egg contains about 215mg cholesterol - 99+% of that is in the yolk. Try substituting 2 egg whites in place of the whole egg for an essentially cholesterol free batter.

Now, to the chicken ... based on the nutritional information for chicken from NutritionData for broilersand fryers, based on 1oz servings for raw white and dark meat (boneless and skinless):

White meat has 16mg, dark meat has 22mg, cholesterol per ounce. So, for 3-lbs of chicken: white meat only would be about 768mg cholesterol, dark meat only would run about 1,056mg, a 50/50 mix would be about 912mg. Using the above recipe for 4 broken down to individual servings, it would run something like: 192mg white meat, 264mg dark meat, 228mg mixed - per serving.

Don't know what daily cholesterol level you are shooting for (USDA recommended daily intake is 300mg or less) but this might not be that unhealthy occasionally.

Of course - how accurate these numbers are depends on how accurate the information on NutritionData is, how accurately I interpreted the data, and my ability to perform basic math skills with a calculator.

What an abundance of info!!! Thank you sir

[Michelemarie]

Michael in FtW - you always have such great information, thanks!