Gao/Tso's Style Chicken with Lemongrass Dipping Sauce

Lemongrass Dipping Sauce

Step 1: Ingredients

Ingredients:
1 cup Rice Vinegar
1 cup Sugar
4 jalapenos
2 lemongrass stalks
1 or 2 medium ginger roots
1/2 bunch of fresh mint
5 or 6 cloves of garlic

Step 2: Prep

Chop up both lemongrass stalks and put them in a pot with 1 cup of Rice Vinegar and 1 Cup of Sugar and let it sit while you're peeling the ginger and garlic, chopping the mint and dicing the jalapenos.

Step 3: The Melt

Turn the heat on Medium and stir fairly constantly until the sugar melts. It's going to start bubbling and that's fine but don't let it come to a full boil, just keep it on a simmer until about 1/3 of the liquid evaporates. Also, don't stick your face over the pot... vinegar vapors hurt.

Step 4: Add Stuff

Once the liquid reduces a bit, add the jalapenos and garlic, then grate one of the ginger roots into the mix and stir it around again fairly constantly for about 3 - 5 minutes and let it sit for another 2 minutes bubbling happily away.

Step 5: The First Straining

Use a fine mesh strainer to strain the liquid in to a bowl. Use your stirring spoon and smoosh the contents of the wire strainer to get all of the liquid out of the solids.

Step 6: Add More Stuff

Add the chopped mint and, if you're a gingerholic like I am, grate the second ginger root in to the bowl. Stick it in the refrigerator and let it cool for about half an hour.

Step 7: The Second Straining

Once the mix is cool, strain it again. If you're impatient like I am, instead of just letting it sit and strain, you can reach in and grab all of the stuff and squeeze it by hand to get all of the delicious liquid out.

General Gao/Tso's Style Chicken
Ingredients:
Chicken Breast
Garlic Powder
Powdered Ginger
Flour and Water
Corn Starch

Step 1: Prep the chicken

Cut chicken breast in to chunks, then toss the chunks in a big Ziploc bag, dust with garlic powder and ginger, then roll it around. Open the bag, toss in about half a cup of flour and roll it around again.

Step 2: Prepare to Fry

In one bowl, mix about a cup of water with about 1/2 cup of flour, maybe 3/4 cup and whisk it together with a fork. You'll know you have the ratio right when you run your fingers through the mix and you can feel a little resistance against the motion. In another bowl, pour about a cup or a cup and a half of corn starch.

Put 1.5" of oil in a frying pan and turn the heat on Medium High. Wait for the oil to get nice and hot, then take the chicken, dredge it through the flour mix, then the corn starch, then immediately in the pan and let it fry for about 2 minutes and then let it rest on a draining rack.

Step 3: Let It Rest

Gao/Tso's Style Chicken with Lemongrass Dipping Sauce and Jasmine Rice: