What’s up everyone? Today we’re making "Jó Jūng Tòhng Gāi" "General Tso’s Chicken" My name is Randy And I’m a second generation Chinese American On a mission to share and preserve My family’s recipes and stories, one meal at a time. Hahaha You can’t use olive oil to fry! Hahaha My dad has been a Chinese chef for over 50 years and Today he will be showing us his recipe for “General Tso’s Chicken” Hello friends! Hope you're all well! Today we're going to share our recipe for “General Tso’s Chicken.” Many Chinese restaurants, big and small, All across the US make this dish. Now I’ll show you how to make it. First we're going to cut the chicken. A lot of people use chicken thighs. For a healthier alternative, we'll use chicken breast. Here we have about 10 oz chicken breast. First we'll cut the chicken. If you’re not familiar with General Tso’s Chicken, It’s an extremely popular menu item In Chinese American restaurants But fairly unheard of in mainland China. The original recipe was invented by renowned chef Peng Chang Kuei in Taiwan in the 1960s, Who named it General Tso’s Chicken As an homage to his Hunanese heritage And their beloved general Zuo Zongtang. When done properly, General Tso’s Chicken is an incredibly delicious dish That’s crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Chef Peng’s original recipe is more in line with the intense spices, Tanginess, and savory flavors of Hunanese cuisine, And in America, Chinese chefs added sugar to the recipe To appeal to a more western customer base. We’ll talk about this more later, But there’s a really poignant documentary Called “The Search for General Tso” That explains not only the origins of how this iconic dish Became its own billion dollar industry, But the struggles of Chinese immigrants Fighting to survive and thrive in America. We're done cutting the chicken. Next, we're going to marinate the chicken. We’ll add our chicken to a bowl as well as… 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 egg 1 tbsp cornstarch 1/2 tbsp water We’ll be saving the other half of the egg for later If you're looking for a written version of this recipe Check out our blog post at madewithlau.com Where you'll find an adjustable list of ingredients And step-by-step videos to guide you As you make the recipe at home. So now we're mixing the chicken with the marinade. Mix it around like this. It’s okay if you want to mix it for longer. Mix and massage in a circular motion. Now we're done marinating the chicken. Let it sit for about 10-20 minutes. Now we're going to prepare the batter. To a different bowl, we’ll add... 3 tbsp flour 1 tbsp cornstarch The remaining half of the egg 1 tsp baking powder About 4 tablespoons of water to start. We might need to add more water as we mix. After mixing, if we see this kind of consistency Then we know there isn't enough water Now we need to add more water (to get the right consistency). Add one more tablespoon. How do you make it crispier? Add two types of powder - Cornstarch and flour. If you only use flour, it won't work. If you use only flour it will become very soft. If you use only cornstarch it will become very hard. The perfect ratio is 3:1. 3 parts flour to 1 part cornstarch. We’ll also add 1 tbsp olive oil. Which helps the chicken turn out more shiny And helps to prevent the batter from clumping together. Last, we'll add some oil. Use water to mix around. We have to mix it very well so that there are no clumps. When you see it’s like this, it's still a little too thick. Add 1/2 tablespoon water. Like this - this is perfect. See? Okay, we're using 2 garlic cloves. Next, we’ll be mincing 2 garlic cloves A few slices of ginger, And about 1-2 ounces Or about a ⅓ of a red bell pepper Mince the ginger. Red bell pepper About 1 ounce or a little less than a half. A lot of Chinese American restaurants Tend to garnish General Tso’s Chicken With a ring of a few pieces of broccoli And sometimes pieces of sliced tomato, So feel free to chop and prepare some if you’d like. We've cut all of our ingredients Let's start to heat up the oil Now we'll pour the oil into the wok. This is corn oil. When you deep fry, don’t use olive oil Because it can’t withstand high heat. That’s enough oil now. We want enough to submerge the chicken. There isn't that much chicken to fry. Like my dad mentioned, You should generally avoid olive oil For anything that involves higher heat. This is because olive oil has what’s called a lower smoke point, Which is the temperature at which the oil stops shimmering or rippling And starts smoking or burning Smoking oil isn’t always a problem And sometimes even desired for getting that perfect “Wok Hei” in your stir fry, But it’s a sign that the oil is breaking down, Which can release burnt or bitter flavors Or even harmful free radicals. Here’s a chart that highlights the smoke points Of a few of the most common cooking oils. There are a few other factors that go into selecting oils Like whether they’re neutral or flavored. Or refined or unrefined. Most cooking oil is created by extracting and compressing seeds and nuts, And oils that are “unrefined”, “raw”, or “virgin” Are usually bottled almost immediately. They generally have more nutrients But a lower smoke point and shorter shelf life. Refined oils go through more processing For a higher smoke point, longer shelf life, And a more neutral flavor. It’s not totally true that you should avoid olive oil, Since you can buy either refined or unrefined varieties. But for simplicity’s sake, for frying, You generally want to use neutral, refined oils Like vegetable oil, refined olive oil, or corn oil. Set the stove to its highest heat. To check if the oil is hot enough, It's pretty easy. Place one drop of the batter into the oil. If it floats to the top immediately then the oil is hot enough It’s not hot enough. See now it’s going up though. Continue to heat it up. If you see it’s coming up too slow, then the oil is not hot enough Another way you can test if it's hot enough Is to put in something that has water content (it should sizzle) See, it’s not hot enough. Continue to heat it up You can see it. Mmm, it depends on how much oil you use. If you have more oil then it takes longer to heat up. Here’s an example of what it should look like when the oil is hot enough. My dad also said that if the batter instantly turns golden brown, Then the oil is too hot. If you put it in right away and it turns yellow immediately then it’s too hot? Yes then it’s too hot. My dad will be explaining this later, But we’ll be frying our chicken twice. For the first fry, we’re looking to heat our oil to around 300°F (149°C), And 350 - 400°F (176 - 204°C) for the second frying. Another easy way to monitor the temperature Is to get an Instant Read Thermometer, Which allows you to set a temperature probe in the oil And know exactly what temperature it’s at. I’ve included links to some of our favorite options in our description And on our blog post. Also you need to see how much power your stove has Gas stoves heat up faster Our electric stove heats up pretty slowly. It’s a little bit slower but that’s okay. As our oil heats up, We’ll prepare our all-important sauce by mixing 2 tbsp light soy sauce 1 tsp dark soy sauce 2 tbsp sugar 1 tbsp vinegar 1 tbsp ketchup 1/2 tsp white pepper After our chicken is done frying, We’ll also be cooking the sauce with 4 dried chili peppers, Our garlic, as well as 1 teaspoon of cornstarch, 2 tbsp of water, and 1 teaspoon of sesame oil. You can put this sauce on a lot of things. When I worked for New Lim’s, nobody knew this sauce. Shortly after I arrived in the US, I learned to make this sauce. I already knew how to make this sauce. Mix up all together. And now we're going to try and see how it tastes. If it’s not perfect, we can add or subtract. Okay! Okay! Good. We'll be using this sauce after we finish frying. Now we're going to mix the batter with the chicken. The chicken has already been marinating. Now, mix it with the batter. Now the oil is hot enough When we put it inside the drop floated up. Now we put the chicken in, piece by piece. Transfer it into the wok slowly with chopsticks. Why don’t you put all in at once? It will stick together. If you put it all in at once it will all stick together. We’ll be frying it until it turns golden yellow. Yellow Now, it’s all in the wok. Now we’ll separate all the pieces. You keep frying until the juices comes out and start to hear sizzling. The sound comes from the moisture inside the meat. Fry it for at least 10 minutes until it turns yellow. The pan should not be too shallow right? If it’s too shallow the oil will easily splash out. Our pan is maybe 4 inches deep. Even 3 inches is okay. A slightly curved bottom pan is better If you're deep-frying, a flat bottom is also okay. If you're deep frying, a flat bottom is okay. Yes, not completely flat. You use less oil if it’s that way too. Yes While we wait for our chicken to cook I wanted to make a special shoutout To thank our wonderful Patreon supporters For helping bring this video to life Son, do you like to eat fried food? Since you like fried food, I'll make fried shrimp for you. Since I already have a pot with oil. I'll make some food for you. I'll make some food for you and Kat. Okay, we've been deep-frying up until now. It’s turning golden yellow. Now we'll scoop it out. Scoop it out - later we'll fry it again. Wow, beautiful! Oh my God! Do you see how beautiful it is? After transferring the chicken out, We’ll need to let the oil heat up again, This time to 350-400F, Before dumping the chicken back in. On our setup, this took about 2 minutes. We'll pour it in to re-fry again. Like this, the meat looks so beautiful. The skin is very crunchy. See, right now when you touch the skin it’s pretty soft. If you fry it again, the skin will contract and harden. Wait a little bit. Fry it again and it will become more beautiful Usually in the restaurant they don’t cook this made-to-order They do it in large batches If a customer places an order, we’ll bring the dish to them. The fried chicken is already mostly ready (from the first fry). Once a customer orders, we'd start the second fry. We'd fry it a second time, do you understand? Whether it’s Lemon Chicken or Sweet & Sour Pork. It's done the same way. Now we'll pour it in and fry again. See? You don’t need to fry too long for the second fry. We only need to fry 1-2 minutes. Just for a little bit. Done! Wow! See? Whoaa! Good! Do you see how beautiful that is? Oh, hot! Of course it’s hot! It just finished frying! Does that taste good? Now, we need make the sauce. The last step is to create the sauce. We’ll scoop some of the frying oil into a new pan. Let the pan heat up for 1 to 2 minutes Until the oil is shimmering, or forming ripples, And then we’ll cook 4 dried chili peppers For about 10-15 seconds. Dried chilies are better (than fresh) - they have a stronger aroma, flavor. Then we’ll add the minced garlic and ginger. Stir and cook for 20-30 seconds To release the aromas and flavors. Next, we’ll pour our sauce mix from earlier And stir around for another 20-30 seconds. Mmm, very good. Then, we’ll thicken the sauce with a cornstarch slurry Made of 1 tsp cornstarch and 2 tbsp water. Stir for 20-30 seconds, Then add the bell peppers and 1 tsp sesame oil, And stir and cook for another 30 seconds. You can adjust the thickness of the sauce to your liking By adding either more cornstarch, or more water. Okay, it's done! Pour it in Ooohhh Whoo Wow! Okay. All done cooking! Let's plate it! Mmm Okay Now we add our garnish. Jó Jūng Tòhng Gāi, all done! Let’s eat! Before we sit down to eat, I wanted to reflect On watching The Search for General Tso, Which does a beautiful job telling the stories And struggles of Chinese immigrants fighting To survive in America, and it also stirs a lot of Thoughts on what it means for Chinese food to be “authentic”. In a nutshell, Chinese immigrants, mostly from Guangdong, Flocked to California during the Gold Rush in the 1850s. Work was extremely limited and low paying, And restaurants were often the only opportunity That Chinese immigrants had to make a living. Right from the start, and even to this day to a degree, Chinese Americans struggled because we were Viewed as aliens and second-class citizens. It used to be legal and even encouraged to Commit violence against Chinese people, And it was pretty common for Chinese restaurants To be blown up, burned down, and for entire Chinese Communities to be completely driven out of town, Like in Monterey, California for example. So it’s against this backdrop that Chinese people were Forced to find a way to be accepted by White Americans. This was the hostile environment where Chinese food Had to evolve to be more relatable and palatable to A non-Chinese audience, and why dishes like General Tso’s Chicken or Chop Suey Are practically unheard of in China, But were staples of Chinese American restaurants. I think Chinese American dishes like this sometimes Get hate because they’re not “real Chinese food”, But I don’t think they’re any less authentic Than mainland Chinese cuisine. I think on the contrary, it speaks to how innovative And resilient Chinese immigrants had to be To be able to call a foreign land their home. While it is true that there are customs And core ingredients that tend to Define traditional Chinese cuisine, If you look closely, the culinary practices in China Were and are still constantly evolving, And draw from many different parts of the world. I think something that is clearly fake and inauthentic Would be like someone slapping a Louis Vuitton logo On a bag and trying to sell it to you. But unlike Louis Vuitton, no single person or company Gets to define what real Chinese food is and isn’t. If your first experience of Chinese food Was in a small Chinese restaurant in the midwest, Sure, it might taste drastically different From something you’d get in Sichuan or Guangzhou, But in my opinion, it doesn’t make your own Personal experience any less authentic Or real just because you didn’t eat that meal in China. I think what IS authentic and real is The fact that you enjoyed your meal, That you maybe had a great conversation with your family, That the people serving you put Their hearts into making it for you, And that everyone was able to provide for people that they love. To me, that is a completely genuine experience, And it’s certainly not our place to gate-keep Chinese cuisine and judge what’s authentic or not. All that being said, these are just my opinions, And I’d love to get your thoughts as well. Feel free to leave a comment on how you might relate Or even disagree with this, and what Authentic cuisine means to you. Hi baby! Yay! Hi! Oh my God! Looks amazing! Alright Randy. Serve it up, serve it up! We’re ready! We’re ready! Okay Cheers! Cheers Camie! Ohh, in my mouth! I’m so excited. Mmmm that crunch! Wow, it tastes so good! This dish is very famous in Chinese restaurants. It tastes a little sweet, sour, and a little spicy. If you have a kid at home and you make this dish I think it will be gone immediately! It’s just so good. The taste is so good. Let’s try the shrimp! Get ketchup Mmm, mm mm good! Who wants more? Did you try this in China? No Where did you learn this? In the United States. In the restaurant? Every restaurant in the US has General Tso’s Chicken Is it a well-known dish? It's not very famous in China. Also, it's not very popular in Hunan province. But it's very popular in the United States. In your old restaurant, did a lot of people like this dish? Yes, a lot of people loved it. Many other restaurants might not call it “General Tso's Chicken” Some call it “Hunan Chicken” Why do you need to fry it twice? During the first fry, some of the water Inside the meat will be released into the batter Then you scoop it out, and wait until the oil heats up again. On the second fry, the moisture will be reabsorbed into the chicken. So when you do it the second time, The chicken will become very crunchy Because all the juices will be trapped in the inner layer That’s the secret. So, can you use this method for any type of meat? Deep-fried fish, deep-fried shrimp, deep-fried anything. Did you deep-fry fish when you were in China? Rarely We didn't have cooking oil in China, son! When we were in China we had very little cooking oil! Was it really expensive? Before, in China, it was rare to have cooking oil. You think we had oil for cooking? Also we probably only had a half-pound of oil per month Wow That the government rationed for us. We used a coupon to buy it Do you know where the oil I used came from? It was mailed from Hong Kong! From Hong Kong to China Your grandma and aunt mailed oil from Hong Kong to us Wow! A lot of time when we had pork Pork has a lot of fat So we saved the fat, and we fried the fat. It will produce a lot of oil that we could use for cooking. We bought fatty parts of the pork And would deep fry the fat for cooking oil So all the pig fat parts, we'd deep fry And then after deep frying, it became oil. Did you reuse the oil? Like say, if for this dish, Would you use it, store it, and use it again? For vegetable oil, yes. When you had that, how would you know When the oil wasn’t good anymore? Mmm at home if you do deep fry once or twice, it's still okay. You don’t have to throw it away. This is the oil I just used for frying. See? After frying, I pour it out with the strainer. After you deep fry, you strain it because there are a lot of pieces, crumbs. So we use this to strain the oil so it's more pure. Yea, smart. It's still very flavorful! We can still cook with it - it still has a lot of aroma! Smell it. Hot! Smell how beautiful it is! Smell good? Soup? Oh soup! Gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp Hahahaha It smells very fragrant! The oil was used in our deep frying When are you going to throw it away? We're never going to throw it away. We use it for cooking. Why not olive oil? Olive oil is not fit for high heat. You can use any oil, but don’t use olive oil for deep frying. Peanut oil, other oils are okay. Ohhh, Hong Doy. Can’t do it, can’t do it. Hong Doy you want to eat? You hear that Cam? Life advice from grandpa. You can’t use olive oil for deep frying! Ooohh What did he say? You can’t use olive oil! Hahaha You can’t use olive oil for deep frying! Hello, all of our friends! Nice to talk to all of our friends today! Today Daddy Lau cooked “Jó Jūng Tòhng Gāi” It’s very delicious! I believe all our friends will make a delicious “Jó Jūng Tòhng Gāi” Leave a comment if you have any questions.
I posted this video for a couple of reasons:
1. I wasn't able to find a post linked to Made with Lau. I did use Reddit's very mediocre search engine, so I could have missed a post.
2. I really enjoy the family dynamic at the dinner table at the end of the video. You see how food and family really come together. (17:41)
3. I enjoy his commentary on "authentic" Chinese food (13:58)
4. I love watching Lau in the kitchen. The channel is really enjoyable and filled with worthwhile recipes.
I hope you watch and enjoy the video.
(Not the channel owner, just a recent fan.)
I just discovered this channel! I love how dad will explain the difference between restaurant cooking and cooking at home on an electric range.
Such a nice recipe! I would love to give your recipe a try! Tso's chicken is my family favourite! I try new recipes for TSO's chicken to give a twist to the taste buds! Last time, I made TSO's chicken with this recipe. Https://www.corriecooks.com/instant-pot-tsos-chicken/ Next time, I'm using your recipe!