General Tso Chicken

One thing in the states I long for is Chinese food. Kind of an oxymoron right? Longing for Chinese food in America! ha! One of my favorite places to go is the Gourmet Buffet and you can guarantee that when I'm home I'll visit it about once a week! LOL! I came across this recipe for General Tso Chicken on Pinterest. Kim Hamilton had pinned it and I figured I might as well give it a try.. maybe it would help my chinese cravings... it was DELISH. I'd have to say it has become one of my FAVORITE recipes!!!

General Tso Chicken

Ingredients

1 Lb. chicken breasts (cut into 1" pieces)

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1/4 c. sugar

1/4 c. "lite" soy sauce

1/4 c. unsweetened pineapple juice

1/4 c. white distilled vinegar

2 cloves garlic, crushed ( i used 1/2 tsp garlic powder)

1 tsp. fresh ginger, finely grated (I used 1/4 tsp ground ginger)

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 Tbsp. cornstarch, mixed with 3 Tbsp. water

4 green onions, sliced

Dredge chicken in flour and fry in oil over medium heat (in a wok or a skillet) until golden brown and crispy.

Drain excess oil. Sprinkle cayenne over the chicken and keep warm on low heat.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine sauce ingredients (sugar, soy sauce, pineapple juice, vinegar, garlic, and ginger) and heat gently. When sauce is smooth and sugar has dissolved, SLOWLY add cornstarch mixture and stir constantly until sauce has thickened to desired thickness.

Pour sauce in the wok and stir to coat chicken. Stir in green onion. Remove from heat and serve with fried or steamed rice!