Kouki
Kouki, Not Cookie.
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- Dec 28, 2009
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So Chinese food in Charlotte is godawful. As such, I almost never eat it. I found a recipe online for crock pot General Tso's chicken and decided to give it a try and it turned out pretty good. Also easy to make.
2-3 chicken breasts
1/3 cup corn starch
8oz hoisin sauce
4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
4 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 teaspoons sesame oil
green onions
sesame seeds
Cut the chicken breasts up into bite size chunks, then toss them in a bag with the corn starch and shake until they're coated. Heat some vegetable or other high smoke point oil on medium-high in a skillet and then fry up the chicken until it's golden on both sides. You don't need to cook it all the way through, just until it starts to get some nice color on the outside. It'll finish cooking in the slow cooker. Once the chicken is cooked (took me three batches), put it in the slow cooker.
Mix the hoisin sauce, rice wine vinegar, brown sugar, and sesame oil in a bowl. I also added a healthy amount of sriracha to give the sauce some heat after testing it. Red pepper flakes would work as well. After the sauce is mixed up, pour it over the chicken in the crock pot.
Set the crock pot to low and let it sit for two to three hours. It'll probably be done after an hour and a half, but it shouldn't get overcooked even after three.
Serve over white rice and top with sesame seeds and thinly sliced green onions.
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As I said, I quite liked how this turned out. When I make it again, I think I'll add a couple cloves of minced garlic to the crock pot with the sauce, and I also think I'll saute some peppers and onions on the side around when the chicken is done cooking to serve with it. I think both would go very well with this dish. The sriracha definitely added to it as well. It was too sweet without it, and I'm used to General Tso's having some kick to it.
At any rate, it was better than the bulk of the Chinese food you find here. Just not many good options, unfortunately.
I'd just finish that on the stove if you've got a pan big enough. I hate cleaning crock pots.