Miriam (Pascal) Cohen’s General Tso Chicken

It’s that great kid-friendly chicken dish that the entire family enjoys. And it’s a new recipe from Miriam’s Real Life Pesach Cooking.

Editor’s Note: Whether you need a chol hamoed dinner idea, or you simply need a great, fresh new chicken recipe for a Yom Tov meal, this fits the bill! We’re very excited to try it. And if you don’t use store-bought ketchup, no worries, Miriam shows you how to make homemade Pesach ketchup in this post over here.

Both this recipe and the Ultimate Vanilla Bundt Cake are just two highlights from her latest cookbook: Real Life Pesach Cooking: Pesach Prep–and Pesach Food–for the Way You Live. If you love these ideas, you’ll love the book even more.

Let’s hear from Miriam:

Every year, after Pesach, I try to write notes of what my family enjoyed, what went over well, and what didn’t. I record our favorite store-bought products, as well as menus and reminders I need for the coming year. And that is how I have a note on my phone dated April 2, 2013, and titled “Pesach-Style General Tso Chicken.” It was just a rough idea, not an exact recipe. Admittedly, my cooking skills and recipe writing skills have progressed in the past decade, but the sauce of this chicken is actually really similar to the one my family enjoyed all those years ago. Wondering if this dish is kid friendly? Let’s just say it was meant to be dinner the night of the photoshoot for it, but a few kids came to visit, and within minutes, it was all gone!

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

General Tso Chicken

Servings: 4 -6 servings

Ingredients

General Tso Sauce:

• 2 tbsp oil
• 4 shallots, sliced
• 1½ tsp kosher salt 
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 2" fresh ginger, minced, OR 6 cubes frozen ginger
• ½-1 jalapeño (see note), very finely chopped, to taste
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 cup sweet red wine 
• ¾ cup ketchup, homemade or store-bought
• 2 tbsp lemon juice

Chicken:

• 3 eggs 
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder 
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1¼ cups potato starch 
• 1 tbsp vinegar 
• 2-3 lbs chicken cutlets, cut into bite-size cubes 
• oil, for deep frying
• sliced scallions, for garnish, optional

Instructions

• Prepare the sauce: In a small pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add shallots and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, until softened.
• Add garlic, ginger, and jalapeño. Reduce heat to low; cook uncovered for at least 10-15 minutes, but longer will lead to deeper flavor.
• Add sugar, wine, ketchup, and lemon juice. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Prepare the chicken: In a bowl, combine eggs, salt, garlic powder, sugar, potato starch, and vinegar. Whisk to form a smooth batter. Add chicken pieces; stir until all chicken is fully coated.
• In a deep frying pan or medium pot, heat about 2 inches oil over medium heat. Slip in chicken pieces one at a time; deep fry for 3-4 minutes, until chicken is golden brown and cooked through.
• Just before serving, toss chicken in sauce. Garnish with sliced scallions, if desired.

Notes

Sauce can be prepared ahead of time and stored for 2-3 days in the fridge or longer in the freezer. Chicken is best the day it is fried, but it can be prepared 1-2 days ahead of time and rewarmed, uncovered, in a single layer, until heated through.

You can omit the sauce and serve the chicken plain for a really great battered chicken recipe. Alternatively, you can serve the chicken with a bowl of sauce on the side, so everyone can decide if they want sauce or not.