Healthy(ish) General Tso Chicken

I love Chinese takeout. In fact, I'm not sure love is a strong enough word to describe the passion I have for it. Obsessed maybe? Captivated? Infatuated? Even when I met Sean, in our first conversation I told him "If Chinese takeout isn't your favorite, this isn't going to work." Luckily his love for Asian cuisine is almost as intense as mine. Almost.

No matter what combination of takeout food I order, there is always one essential element I cannot go without: you guessed it, General Tso's Chicken. I just cannot get enough of this deliciously sticky sauce smothered on crunchy, delectable chicken. I mean, look at it!

So I set out to recreate this beautifully balanced sweet and spicy sauce. The best part about this recipe is that the chicken is baked, not fried, and that in itself compels me to make this and proclaim it a healthy(ish) dish.

Ingredients:

For the breading:

• 1 cup flour

• 1 tablespoon paprika

• 2 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

• 1 teaspoon cayenne powder

• 3 eggs, beaten

• 1 cup Panko bread crumbs

For the sauce:

• 4 tablespoons lite soy sauce

• 5 tablespoons rice Wine Vinegar

• 1 cup water

• 2 tablespoons chili garlic sauce (can use Siracha in a pinch)

• 2 tablespoons minced garlic

• 2 tablespoons minced ginger

• 2 tablespoons corn starch

• ½ cup + 1 tablespoons granulated sugar

• ¼ cup of water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. First defrost chicken and cut into even sized squares. For the breading, you will need three separate bowls: 1 for the egg mixture, 1 for the flour mixture, and 1 for the panko bread crumb mixture. Combine flour, paprika, garlic powder, salt, pepper and cayenne in medium sized bowl. In your second bowl, crack 3 eggs and whip up with a fork or whisk until the mixture resembles scrambled eggs before you cook them. In the 3rd bowl, add panko bread crumbs.

2. Take cubed chicken pieces and dunk in the egg mixture. From there dredge in the flour mix and make sure each piece is completely coated. Then drop back in egg mixture and quickly coat again before placing chicken cubes in the panko bread crumb mixture. Make sure entire chicken piece is coated in the bread crumbs, and then place on non-stick baking cookie sheet (you can also spray your pan with PAM nonstick spray). Repeat until all pieces of chicken are done!

3. Place pan with the panko covered chicken pieces in the oven for 15 minutes. When the time is up, crank oven heat up to 500 degrees for another 5 minutes in order to get the pieces nice and crunchy.

4. For the sauce, combine soy sauce, 1 cup of water, rice wine vinegar, chili garlic sauce, and corn starch in a separate bowl. Whisk until all ingredients are combined.

5. In a medium/large pan, combine sugar, 1/4 cup of water, garlic and ginger. Cook on medium heat until sugar begins to boil and turn and amber color, all while continually whisking the whole time.

6. When the sugar mixture begins to turn slightly brown and give off a caramel like smell (3-4 minutes) add soy sauce mixture. Be careful as this mixture is very hot and may bubble up. Continually mix through the whole process.

7. Mixture should thicken up in about 3 minutes after combine, however if it down not, in a small bowl combine 1 Tablespoon of water with a teaspoon of corn starch. Mix until well combined, and add to sauce mixture, continually whisking as you pour the mixture into the sauce. Continue until the sauce is a desired thickness.

8. When the chicken is done, toss in medium sized bowl with sauce and enjoy over white or fried rice!