First things first, I need to
get better with my presentation. You
would think that as much as I watch the Food Network that I would have that
mess down. I’ll get better. I promise myself, I will. I love food too much to half-@$$ the
presentation part. With all of that
being said, these pics may not be the best.
BUT the food was delicious.
I’m on Pinterest. I’m on there under my name so if you want to
follow me that can be arranged. Anyway, one of my boards is titled Brown Skin
Foodie. What do you know?!
*gasp* Really?!
And on that board I have tons
of recipes, along with a few other things, that will more than likely end up on
this blog. The recipe I have been
meaning to try for the longest was one for Baked General Tao’s Chicken. To give credit where credit is due, the
recipe can be found on this site: Baken General Tso's Chicken and is as follows...
“2 -3 pounds boneless chicken thighs or breasts, cut in strips
1 egg + 2 tbsp. water whisked together to make
an egg wash
Combine
1 cup flour
½ tsp. black pepper
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
3 tbsp. ground ginger
2 tsp. salt
Dip the chicken pieces in the egg wash then
dredge them in the flour mixture. Place on a lightly oiled baking sheet and
lightly drizzle or the tops with a little more olive oil. Bake at 375 degrees F
for about 25-3o minutes. Flip the pieces at half way through the cooking time.
While the chicken is baking, prepare your
sauce. Don’t walk away from this sauce; it gets very hot when making the
caramel base and can burn easily so pay careful attention while cooking it.
In a small bowl, mix together
4 tbsp. soy sauce
4 tbsp. rice wine vinegar (white wine vinegar
is fine in a pinch)
¼ cup water
2 tbsp. toasted sesame seed oil
2 tbsp. hot chili paste or sauce (use more or
less to taste if you don’t like it very hot)
½ tsp. salt
2 tsp. corn starch
3 cloves minced garlic
3 tbsp. freshly grated ginger
Set this mixture aside
In a medium saucepan boil together
1 cup sugar
¼ cup water
Boil this over medium heat, watching constantly
until the caramel starts to turn a light amber color and you can begin to smell
the caramel. When it reaches this stage, give the other ingredients in the bowl
a quick stir to make sure the corn starch is dissolved then add it all at once
to the hot caramel.
Be careful at this stage because this sauce
can foam up considerably for a few seconds and it is very hot. Simmer for only
few minutes and remove from the heat and allow to cool down slightly.
Toss the sauce with the cooked chicken pieces
and serve over plain steamed rice.”
First of all, when I read the
sugar syrup part I was a little taken aback.
I am trying to be healthier in my eating, hence the baked version of a
fried Asian classic. This sugar just
cancelled the whole thing out. On top of
that, I had to do the syrup twice because it never turned colors and started to
harden on me. Next time I make this, I might try agave syrup. It will change the taste a little but it
won’t give me Diabetes. Secondly, I HAD
NO GINGER!!! I could have sworn there
was some ground ginger in this place but nooooooo, there wasn’t and every other
minute, I stop stirring to look in the cabinet.
Lookin’ like this…
WHERE IS THAT GINGER?!?!?
So I used dry mustard
instead. Gotta do what you gotta
do. Lastly, I was out of brown rice.
Smh… a sista can’t win for losing.
Luckily, we had some Instant Jasmine rice. All I had to do was throw is in a pot of
boiling water and let it cook for 10-15 minutes. Viola!
General Tao’s Chicken. It got
rave reviews in the home. :o) See some
of my pictures below.
The sauce
Some of the ingredients
The end result
It was sweet with a small hint of spicy but it tasted
just like any Chinese restaurant you might frequent. Try it.
