General Tso's Chicken

This was adapted from this awesome website called BlogChef. We thought that this was a winner, although just a little warning - it took a little time to put together. I am also wondering about what we can do to make it a little bit more spicy, again to balance the sweetness of the dish. Overall, this was excellent recipe.

Ingredients:
1lb boneless skinless chicken thighs (cut into 1” chunks)
5 dried red chili peppers
3 green onions (sliced)
3 eggs (beaten)
½ cup cornstarch
oil (for frying)

Sauce: (I doubled the amount to coat the chicken nicely).
1 ½ tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons rice wine
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons cornstarch

Directions
In a large mixing bowl combine cornstarch and beaten eggs. Mix well to create a batter. Add chicken bits and coat thoroughly.
Heat deep fryer or wok to 375 degrees and deep fried chicken bits in batches. Drain on paper towels.
Add 1-2 tablespoons of oil to your wok. Add dried chili peppers to your wok and stir fry for 30 seconds. Add chicken bits to the wok and stir fry for a couple minutes.
Add sauce mixture to the wok and cook stirring until the sauce becomes thickened and bubbly. Garnish with green onions and serve.

(Makes about 2 servings, if served without additional dish)

Korean Spicy Chicken

This is a recipe courtesy of my sister, who found ways to cook simple homemade Korean dishes with a few basic ingredients.

Ingredients
2 Boneless chicken breast, sliced thinly
3 Tbsp of Korean red bean paste
1 Tbsp of Sesame Oil
1 Tsp of Sugar
3 Tbsp of Sliced green onions
1 cup of shredded carrots
1 cup of thinly sliced Onions
Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions

Mix together the paste, sesame oil, sugar, and sliced green onions.
Combine sliced chicken breast with the marinate. Leave for a minimum of four hours or more. (Overnight is best since the flavor then would really sink in).
Heat a large work for frying.
Mix the marinated chicken, carrots, and onions. Add salt and pepper.
Cover for about 10 minutes.
Turn and mix, make sure that the chicken are thoroughly cooked.
Cover for another 5 min.
Serve with steamed white rice.

Indonesian Ginger Chicken

From Barefoot Contessa

This was probably the only recipe that I have tried so far from Ina Garten's collections that neither Red or I are very crazy about. We love all of the ingredients and the flavor - but thought that it was too sweet! We thought that next time, we'd have to find a way to find a hot pepper or other ingredient to make it more spicy and cut down on the sweetness.


Ingredients

• 1 cup honey
• 3/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup minced garlic (8 to 12 cloves)
• 1/2 cup peeled and grated fresh ginger root
• 2 (3 1/2 pound) chickens, quartered, with backs removed

Directions

Cook the honey, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger root in a small saucepan over low heat until the honey is melted. Arrange the chicken in 1 layer in a shallow baking pan, skin side down, and pour on the sauce. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil. Marinate overnight in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the baking pan in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover the pan, turn the chicken skin side up, and raise the temperature to 375 degrees F. Continue baking for 30 minutes or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh and the sauce is a rich, dark brown.