After just posting about using the old fashioned way to cook things....I am now going to give you a short cut hint! LOL!
Go to your best grocery store and buy a bottle of General Tso (pronounced Chow) chicken sauce.
Cut up your chicken thighs, roll in cornstarch, then in egg and panko....and deep fry....then place in another pan and sauce with the bottled sauce....heat and eat with lots of steamed broccoli!
Soy Vey makes a good General Tso's sauce.
But....sherry keeps for months....and if you buy some, I'll give you some other recipes using it!!
Linda C

I don't have a recipe for you, but look for tiny little "boxes" of wine in the grocery store (top shelf usually). I don't usually have white wine on hand either, but I bought a little box (twist top so it can be resealed). It's only about 12 or 16 oz. Handy for recipes like this.

I think you could sub chicken broth for the wine too if you just don't want to use it.

I know some recipes have floated around, so hopefully someone will post a T&T for you.

Lastly, if you find out how to pronounce "Tso" let me know, will ya? LOL

Deanna

If you find a recipe using sherry buy yourself a half bottle and go for it. I find Sherry a must in lots of Chinese recipes.

Sherry, unlike wine, keeps forever...and I mean forever!

Or a bottle of Chinese Rice Cooking Wine... KA-ME is at your supermarket, cheap and lasts forever as well. And many Asian recipes call for it.

As for white wine, if I didn't drink it I'd probably portion out a bottle and store it in the freezer like chicken stock. It's such a staple ingredient.

The iwne is used for acidity which gives food a pop, try using some rice wine vinegar instead. This recipe comes from Chowhound, I like it but sometimes add one fresh thai or cayenne pepper.

General Tso's Chicken

1 lb chicken thighs, boned and cubed
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup cornstarch, plus
2 teaspoons cornstarch
5 dried chili pods
1 1/2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons rice wine
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
(Optional) sliced green onions and/or cilantro for garnish

In a bowl, blend the 1/2 cup of cornstarch and the eggs; add the chicken and toss to coat. In a small bowl (I use a coffee mug), prepare the sauce by combining the 2 tsp cornstarch with the wine, vinegar, sugar and soy sauce. Heat 1-2 inches of oil in a wok or skillet to medium-high heat (350-400). Fry the chicken in small batches, just long enough to cook the chicken through.
Remove the chicken to paper towels and allow to stand

Leave a tablespoon or two of the oil in the wok. Add the pepper pods to the oil and stir-fry briefly, awakening the aroma but not burning them. Return the chicken to the wok and stir-fry until the pieces are crispy brown. Add the sauce-mixture to the wok, tossing over the heat until the sauce caramelizes into a glaze (1-2 minutes). If desired, garnish with some sliced green onions and cilantro. Serve with steamed rice.

To be clear, rather than the 2TS of wine, try 1 TS water and 1 extra TS rice vinegar.

Definitely get youself a little bottle of DRY sherry for all sorts of Chinese cooking. I use it in every stir fry, rib recipe, fried rice, etc etc etc. Currently I have Taylor brand, but Gallo is fine too. And it will keep forever, so no worries about wasting any.

Sorry foas, but I would not recommend any cooking wine. They tend to be very salty and don't taste very good. If it isn't okay to drink, I don't want it in my food either.

Alexa

No offense taken, Alexa! As a general statement on cooking wines I'd agree with you, but I can't think of a recipe where I've used more than a couple tablespoons of the "Chinese" stuff, i.e. not prominant flavor by any means, or where the dish can't take the salt.

General Tso? If Linda C can break the "make it yourself" rule, then I'll break the "no cooking wine" rule. LOL!

p.s. I say Tscho. Because I'm German.

The gal behind the counter at the take out place calls it "chow"....with that little Asian lilt at the end of the word...making it almost 2 sylables...like "Chow-oo"
But what does she know about Chinese prononciation....she's probably Viet Namese! LOL!

Borrow some from a co-worker?

I haven't made this in a long time, but I used to keep sherry extract on hand for recipes such as this. It will give you the flavor you're looking for, but you'd have to adjust the amount of liquids in the recipe.

I never use wine in Kung Pao.

I like this recipe for Kung Pao, although I did make a couple of minor changes. The original recipe called for powdered ginger which didn't make any sense to me. And rather than add sugar I added a tablespoon or so of Thai sweet chili paste. Added just enough sweetness and a little more heat.

The original recipe can be found here.

Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table

Kung Pao
========
edited from
http://blogchef.net/kung-pao-chicken-recipe/

Ingredients:
1lb boneless-skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1 " pieces)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons sesame oil
3 tablespoons green onions (chopped)
3 garlic cloves (minced)
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon Thai sweet chili paste
1/3 cup dry roasted peanuts
. Step 1: combine chicken and cornstarch in a small bowl and toss to
coat. Heat sesame oil in wok over medium heat, add chicken and stir fry
5-7 minutes or until no longer pink inside. Remove chicken from wok.
Step 2: Add green onions, garlic, red pepper flakes and grated ginger
to the wok and stir fry for 15 seconds.
Step 3: Combine vinegar, soy sauce chili garlic paste in a small bowl.
Mix well and add the sauce to the wok.
Step 4: Return chicken to the wok and coat with sauce. Stir in roasted
peanuts. Heat thoroughly. Top with additional green onions if desired
and serve over white rice.

There is no right way or wrong way to make the dish. It's a dish most likely invented here.

There is one thing for sure, broccoli is not a Chinese vegetable.

Whenever I take my friends to Shun Lee Palace here in NYC, where they claim to have invented the dish, I always ask them to serve it with one of the chinese veggies in season.

dcarch

If you don't have wine on hand, but have some vodka, I have had success using it sweetened with sugar....say, 1 T vodka to 1/2 t sugar. Actually, in certain aspects, this is closer to what actual Chinese chefs use than sherry is, though it is a bit "thinner" in flavor. I have actually mixed whiskey, vodka and sugar as well, the whiskey giving the bit of "ummph" that Chinese rice wines have.

As for pronunciation...there are so many Chinese dialects that it's hard to say how it would be incorrect to pronounce any given word. As long as people know what you're talking about, it works. :D

To be authentic Bobby you need to grab a few stray cats from the nearest alley! :-)

Originally it was Tsao, pronounced a specific way. Hold your lips and tongue as if you were going to pronounce a "T", but say "sah-ow" instead.

In the official 'pinyin', I believe it is now spelled as "chow". The Chinese have made several changes over the last few decades to standardize and simplify the Romanization of Mandarin.

OK... I went to Publix and looked at the wine. I couldn't even find sherry! I did see those little boxes with the screw on tops, but they didn't have any sherry. If I buy a red and a white wine to use in cooking and open them, I know they don't keep long. But, could I keep them in the 'fridge and still use them in cooking even when they wouldn't be drinkable anymore? Just went to Wal-mart too and they only have cooking sherry and I know you all would smack me with a wooden spoon if I even entertained the thought of buying cooking wine. There was no sherry in the wine department, maybe it's in the liquor store section? I read that apple juice can sometimes be substituted. I'm not opposed to buying sherry, but I can't find the silly stuff!

Thanks

I'm wine-cooking challenged but I'm never without sherry. It's a must have for teriyaki and gives a nice kick to lots of other Asian dishes.

But I do have trouble finding it, also. Your best best is to go to a large, well-stocked liquor store. They should have at least one brand. I've used Taylor and Gallo--just checked & the brand I have now is Fairbanks--medium dry.

One of my favorite, stupid-easy main dishes is to put a pork roast or country pork ribs in the crock pot, dump a can of crushed pineapple on top of them, crumble some brown sugar over & top off with a good splash of sherry.

Publix didn't have dry sherry? What's wrong with them?
WalMasrt not having it doesn't surprise me. I can't remember where you live -- do you have Harris Teeter or Meijer? They'll have it.

We very, very seldom drink white wine, so I don't buy it. But (thanks to Linda and Ann's advice years ago) I keep dry sherry and vermouth as a pantry staple now. They keep a looooong time, and it's a quick way to add a lot of flavor with only a little splash. The other thing I've started keeping a bottle of is Madeira.

Great. Now you guys have done it! I'm craving Chinese food. Or Chinese-American. What's in those pictures, I want it!

Hey, Bobby,

Email coming at ya!

Smiles,
Sooz

The only wines I keep on hand (in a dark cupboard) are: Marsala, Vermouth, & Sherry. I sub vermouth for most recipes that call for white wine.

Bobby - in Publix, on the wine aisle, all of these that I listed above should be on one end of the aisle. They generally stock them all together as they are generally used in cooking and not for drinking.

Hey Bobby, Publix is where I get my Sherry, Vermouth, and Marsala. All in the wine department. Ask for help.

BTDT, Bobby, Shaun,Pat, and I don't have Harris Teeter or Meijer. Ratz! However, 2 miles from me I have the world's largest Walmart that opened last week. It has a huge wine department.

I'd look in the Asian sections of the markets, or see if there is an Asian store somewhere. That should open a whole new world of cooking!

Look for 'Shao Hsing' wine. It shouldn't be more than a couple of bucks for a bottle and is shelf stable.

Sherry is a fortified wine and may be in its own section. Here it is usually found where the port is, as port is also a fortified wine.

After reading this thread, I developed a huge craving for Generals Chicken also, so I went to my fav restaurant today. Since I was on the late side for lunch (I jsut got home with "take out") I had a chance to talk to the owner a bit. I asked him about the broccoli in the Generals chicken, and he said though many places do rely on broccoli, the veg is meant as decoration more than a flavor enhancer, and any fresh veg could be used. He is a 3rd generation chef originally form Canton and said his father and grandfather regularly use shredded carrots, shredded show peas, etc as a garnish.

I also asked him how his sauces were different from so many other Chinese restaurants (they have a velvety texture, but it doesn't get think and gloppy in the fridge) he said that though Corn starch was the old thickening agent, he now uses potato flour for most of his coatings or sauces since it produces a superior end result.

Just thought I would pass along those tid bits - now I am off to enjoy my generals chicken! LOL!

Alexa

Bobby, you really don't need white wine or sherry for most Chinese recipes.

One of my favourite sources for Chinese recipes is Egullet, and in particular those shared by HZrt8W. Here is the pictorial for General Tso shared by HZTR8W. Notice that the recipe calls for the same ShaoHsing cooking wine that Jessica mentioned. I keep a bottle of it on hand.

I've been having a craving for sesame chicken for a month or so, Bobby, so this is timely. Guess I'll have to stop in Grand Rapids at a Chinese place the next time I'm there and get some, or go check some recipes.

I don't like the General Tso's, it's too spicy. I like the sticky sweet sesame stuff, like eating dessert for lunch, LOL, and not spicy at all.

So, does anyone have a good recipe for Sesame Chicken that doesn't require sherry, vermouth, ShaoHsing, red chili paste or anything else that I don't have and can't buy without driving 100 miles?

Annie

Annie, Here is an outline from Egullet on how Dejah makes Sesame Chicken. Looks easy and you probably have all the ingredients.

Posted 27 August 2006 - 10:23 AM
I think General Tso's chicken, from various googled images, is the same as what we served as sesame chicken, except for the excessive # of dried chili peppers.

I do deep fry the chicken pieces, usually thick strips of dark and white meat. I season the chicken with salt, MSG, and sesame oil, then work in an egg, flour and baking powder. This is worked in thoughly, then the chicken is tossed into fine cracker crumbs. The chicken is deepfried, and they end up with a nice crunch without thick batter.

The sauce is just vinegar, water, a little sugar, sesame oil, 5-spice powder, and lots of crushed pepper (amount depends on the consumer). This is thickened with a cornstarch slurry, and the chicken pieces are tossed in quickly to coat. I prefer to NOT completely soak the chicken pieces with sauce. I do provide a side of the sauce for those who like more sauce. It's crunchy, spicy, more tang than sweet, sesame flavoured, and topped with sesame seeds.

Thank you, Ann, that looks like the stuff. I don't have 5 spice powder but I think it's just a mixture of cinnamon, anise, black peppercorns, cloves and something else, maybe fennel because of the "licorice-y" flavor. I'm sure I can find a "recipe" for that blend and it's easier and cheaper than taking that 100 mile round trip drive, not a Chinese restaurant in this county except the one that's been closed down more than once for Health Department violations and a couple of times for immigration problems.

I don't want anything badly enough to risk eating there!

Annie

Sesame Chicken is great too! I was wondering how General Tso's got so spice, when many of the recipes I looked at didn't call for any spicy ingredients.

I'll post back after I make General Tso's properly and let you all know how it turned out... maybe with pics if it turns out OK. Thanks everyone :o)

Bobby, I don't know where you live but the laws there may be the same as here. Publix, WalMart and other grocery stores here can sell wine, but no liquor. For sherry and other drinks classified as liquors we must go to a liquor store.

Beverly