When Chris went to the US for a few months in 2008, he found a small restaurant called Chef Chu‘s that sells this amazing dish called General’s Chicken. He went on searching for the same flavors back in Singapore, to no avail. This is one of his attempt, an improvement over a recipe found in a recipe book (which we kinda forgot the title; we found it in the library). While not similar to Chef Chu’s version, this version is flavorful in its own ways.
Serves 5-6 people
- 5 chicken thigh, skinned and deboned
- 6-10 dried red chillies
- 5 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 cm ginger, peeled and minced
- vegetable oil for deep frying
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- Some spring onions, chopped thinly (for garnish)
Marinade
- 2 tsp light soy sauce
- ½ tsp dark soya sauce
- ½ tsp rice wine
- ¾ tbsp sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tbsp potato flour
- 2 tsp vegetable oil
Sauce
- ¾ tbsp sugar
- ½ tsp potato flour/starch
- ½ tsp dark soy sauce
- 1½ tsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp clear rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp tomato ketchup
- ½ tsp rice wine
- 5 tbsp water
- Remove any visible fat from the chicken, dice into bite-sized pieces.
- Marinate the chicken with the soy sauces, rice wine, sugar, and egg yolk. then stir potato flour and oil. Let stand while preparing other ingredients.
- Soak the dried chillies for at least 10 minutes. Then deseed and cut into 2 cm pieces.
- Mix all the ingredients for the sauce in a bowl.
- Heat the oil until about 180 to 200 degrees Celsius (you can test the heat of the oil by dropping one piece of chicken, the oil should start bubbling in a few seconds), then deep-fry the chicken in batches for 3-4 minutes till golden brown. Pat dry with kitchen towels.
- Return 2-3 tbsp of the oil into a wok and heat with high flame. Stir fry the chillies till fragrant (about 30 seconds; do not burn them). Add the ginger and stir-fry for about 15 seconds. Then add garlic and a pinch of salt and stir-fry for another few seconds. Add in the sauce (the sauce may bubble vigorously, keep pouring all the sauce into the center of the wok) and stir until the mixture thickens slightly.
- Return the chicken to the wok, stir-fry the pieces vigorously to coat them with the sauce. Remove from heat, stir in the sesame oil and mix well.
- Transfer to a serving bowl, then sprinkle artistically with green onions. Serve while still warm.
Acknowledgment: This recipe is based on a recipe we found in the book The Flavors of Asia. I have modified the recipe so that it is closer to the Chef Chu’s version than the one in the book.
Neither can I, but here’s the original:
http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/7369/generaltsochicken.jpg
I think it should be this book. But I’m not sure… The Flavors of Asia