Little details about my childhood remain vivid, especially when it comes to food, flavors and feasting. For many of the folks where I grew up, Chinese food was a special treat and an exciting break from the doldrums of our own ethnocentric diets. Latvian and German were my staple culinary origins, so Szechuan or Cantonese were always an adventure.
There was a classic Cantonese Chinese restaurant that my family would loyally visit, once my dad made friends with the maître so we could get a good table.
(Public Domain)
Zuo Zongtang, better known as General Tso Tsung-t’ang, who likely never thought he'd one day have a namesake dish.
My parents didn’t stray too far from their culinary comfort zones. Chicken chow mein and shrimp egg foo young were as exotic as they got because Mom never cooked shrimp at home. As for me, once I tried General Tso’s chicken I was hooked. Granted, there was always the porkiest spareribs as an appetizer, but the “General’s” thighs had me at first bite.
It’s wonderful that the names of some dishes outlive the people who inspired them. I have written up a few, including oysters Rockefeller and mango tarte tatin, but General T always intrigued me. I’d always wondered if this dish was really named after 19th-century military leader Tso Tsung-t’ang or if it was just another American invention.
Time to dig deeper, so keep your aprons on for this one! Although it was named after Zuo Zongtang (or Tso Tsung-t’ang), a 19th-century Qing dynasty statesperson and military leader from Hunan Province, he had nothing to do with the dish. It was created in the 1940s by the great Hunan chef Peng Chang-kuei before he came to America. He understood the American palate and made changes to the recipe that he knew would help popularize Asian cooking in the states. Keeping things sticky and sweet was key to winning over the New York food scene.
(SID HOELTZELL @ MIAMI 2024)
The ingredients for a generally good General Tso’s chicken.
When it landed in front of my face, I was in the “army” now and a fan of the “General” for life. Chang-kuei rolled out General Tso’s chicken in 1973 at Uncle Peng’s Hunan Yuan in New York City and history was made. It’s now a staple of almost any Chinese restaurant in the world, but maybe not on the mainland because you know how pushy and naughty those members of the Chinese Communist Party can be.
Regardless of the name, the taste is the thing, and this is a dish (variants thereof) that I like to throw down when I have the urge. You may substitute steak for fowl, but then you’d have to call it Mongolian beef. I could go on about the great Genghis Khan, but that would be a horse of a different stature (not color, because this is a comic inference to the smaller size of Mongolian horses).
(SID HOELTZELL @ MIAMI 2024)
Starch up those chopped chicken thighs with a spiced corn starch mixture.
This is a quick recipe except for the marinating time. If you make extra, have no fear as it can be even better the next day. Either way, I promise that you’ll be smellin’ what I’m tellin’.
CHEF SID’S GENERAL TSO’S CHICKEN
Prep time: 30-35 minutes
Serves: 4
INGREDIENTS
Chicken and marinade
· 1 1/2 pounds fresh boneless, skinless chicken thighs, chopped to peach pit size (1-1 1/2″)
· 1 cup Chinkiang vinegar
(SID HOELTZELL @ MIAMI 2024)
Lone “soldiers” in the general’s edible army.
· 1/2 cup sugar
· 6-7 dried whole hot red peppers
· 3 cups vegetable oil for sautéing
· Cooked white rice, enough for four servings
· Steamed bok choy, enough for four sides
· Sesame seeds for garnish
· Sliced serrano pepper for garnish
Coating mix for marinated chicken
· 1 cup corn starch
· 1 tablespoon garlic powder
· 1 tablespoon onion powder
· Good dash kosher salt
· Good dash ground white pepper
Sauce
· 1/3 cup finely chopped red pepper
· 1/3 cup chopped scallions
· 1/2 cup honey
· 1/2 cup sugar
· 1/4 cup oyster sauce
· 1/4 cup light soy sauce
· 2 tablespoons sesame oil
· 2 tablespoons ginger, slivered, plus 1″ piece, grated
· 3 cloves garlic, pressed or very finely chopped, then knife-smashed to nothingness
· Salt to taste
· Ground white pepper to taste
PREPARATION
· To marinate chicken, in large, zippered plastic bag place chopped chicken, vinegar, sugar and red peppers; seal bag, shake and place in refrigerator 6 hours.
· After marinating, remove chicken from bag and drain on paper towel-lined plate to remove remaining moisture.
· In medium bowl combine all coating mix ingredients; mix well.
· Working with a small number of pieces at a time, coat chicken in coating mix.
· In large sauté pan add vegetable oil and cook chicken on all sides until nicely browned; remove from pan and drain on paper towel-lined plate.
· Remove cooking oil from pan and add all sauce ingredients; sauté about 5 minutes on medium heat until it begins to thicken.
· Add chicken back into pan; toss while cooking until the whole delicious mix begins to further thicken up, becoming a sticky glazed combo of tastiness.
· Remove from heat and serve over rice with a side of steamed Bok choy; sprinkle with sesame seeds and slices of serrano pepper.
Next month, I’m looking forward to making a fine salmon terrine in lieu of holding out on sharing my famous dilled gravlax, much to the editor’s dismay!
Sid Hoeltzell is an award-winning Miami-based commercial food and beverage photographer and former “MasterChef” contestant. He has completed more than 450 commissioned works for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, teaches food photography seminars and is a preferred fine art photographer for Christie’s, Sotheby’s and private collections.