General Tso’s chicken

This is an incredibly simple, incredibly saucy slow cooker dish that ticks the all-important boxes of great Asian cuisine. It’s sweet, it’s spicy and it’s salty!  If you want to make it child friendly, it’s just as delicious without the chilli flakes.

Ingredients

• 17½ ounces / 500g chicken breast, diced
• 1 ounce / 30g cornflour
• 2 tablespoons of groundnut oil
• 7 fluid ounces / 200ml hoisin sauce
• 4 tablespoons of rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon of sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon of chilli flakes
• 6 spring onions (scallions), finely sliced
• 3-4 tablespoons of sesame seeds

Method

Toss the chicken in the cornflour (either in a bowl or a bag) until fully coated.

Heat the oil in a wok and then brown the chicken until it’s just starting to go golden (don’t wory about cooking through).

Add the chicken to a slow cooker with your hoisin sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil and chilli flakes and give a good stir.

Cook on low for two and a half hours.

Serve with your spring onion (scallions) and sesame seeds with some rice.

Trivia

General Tso (1812 – 1885) was a Chinese statesman and military leader of the Qing dynasty era in China renowned internationally at the time for his exploits, especially in putting down rebellions. Within China, he was also well known for introducing scientific improvements to agriculture in a bid to move the Chinese away from growing opium for cash, and he set up large modern printing presses. The General Tso chicken dish was a recipe launched by Chinese chefs in the USA as a restaurant staple and the name is just a marketing ploy as it has no connection whatsoever with the man himself.