General Tso's Reduced Fat chicken

My husband has never been a fan of Chinese cuisine.  He has tried lots of different things and the only Chinese dish that he really likes in General Tso's Chicken.  I recently read at article in my Cook's Country magazine about General Tso's chicken and I think I may have discovered the reason why he is such a fan.  According to the article, most Chinese restaurants batter and deep fry their chicken and add lots of sugar to the sauce.  I was surprised to find out that 1 serving of General Tso's Chicken in most restaurants has 910 calories and 45 grams of fat!  Holy Moly.  Luckily, in typical Cook's Country magazine fashion, they offered a reduced fat and calorie version of the Chinese classic.  Turns out, the reduced fat recipe was just as good (if not better than) the restaurant version.

Reduced Fat General Tso's Chicken
5 cups cornflakes
1 cup flour
3 egg whites
1 1/2 pounds chicken, cut into bite size pieces

Sauce
1 2/3 cup water
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup apricot jam
3 Tablespoons hoisin
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons canola oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Process cornflakes in food processor until finely ground.

 Place flour in one bowl and egg whites in another.

Place a wire rack over a baking sheet and spray with cooking spray.  Dredge chicken in flour, dunk in egg whites then coat in cornflakes.  

Transfer to prepared wire rack. 

 Bake 15 minutes at 475.

While chicken cooks, whisk together water, soy, jam, hoisin, cornstarch and vinegar.

















Heat oil in skillet.  Add garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes.  Heat 1 minute.






Whisk in soy mixture and bring to a simmer.  Cook 2 minutes until thickened.

Add cooked chicken to sauce and stir until coated.

Serve over brown rice.

I was a little leery about how my family would feel about this Chinese chicken so I served half of the chicken just like they came out of the oven.  (Crunchy cornflake nuggets)  The other half of the chicken I coated in General Tso's sauce.  Much to my surprise, everyone except my daughter, liked the Chinese chicken.  Even Ben was a fan of this homemade, reduced-fat version of the classic Chinese chicken dish. 

Ciao!