General Tso's Chicken

In honor of Chinese New Year (well not really but I lucked out in timing) I made a new recipe...General Tso's Chicken. It was from my go-to show of the moment...The Chew. This one was from Clinton Kelly. I know, not a chef, but he loves to cook and experiment. Hey like us "home" cooks. Perfect right.

General Tso's Chicken
Recipe courtesy of The Chew

For Sauce:
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 cup cold water
4 garlic cloves (sliced)
2 teaspoon fresh ginger (grated)
3 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
1 pound broccoli (blanched)

For Chicken:
3 tablespoon cornstarch
1 pound boneless (skinless chicken breasts cut into 1 inch pieces)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoon vegetable oil

For Side:
1 1/2 cups white rice

1. Prepare rice as per instructions on the package and blanch broccoli.
2. Begin sauce in large bowl, mix together 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 1/2 cup cold water until smooth. Add garlic, ginger, honey, soy sauce, and red pepper flakes. Set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, mix cornstarch for chicken, salt and pepper together until combined. Add chicken and already blanched broccoli and toss until coated.
4. Heat a large nonstick skillet with vegetable oil. Shake excess coating off the chicken and cook in batches until golden, 4-6 minutes.
5. Add the sauce mixture and cook until the sauce has thickened.

This packed a subtle heat mixed with sweetness from the honey and the ginger flavor definitely comes out. We cooked it all in a wok at the same time (no batches for us). Only thing I would do differently is not mix the broccoli with the chicken before cooking. I probably blanch mine more than normal and it is pretty cooked so it doesn't need to be cooked again. Dan thought maybe a touch more honey too. But overall pretty tasty.