General Tso's chicken

Step 1

To make the marinade, combine the rice wine, sugar, ginger, garlic, stock powder, pepper and 1 tsp salt in a bowl. Add the chicken, cover and chill for at least 1 hour or overnight to marinate.

Step 2

For General Tso’s sauce, whisk stock and cornflour in a small bowl and set aside. Heat peanut oil in a wok or large pan over high heat. Add garlic, ginger, white spring onion and chillies, and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes until fragrant and softened. Add soy sauce, rice wine, vinegar, sugar, sesame oil, kombu extract and cornflour mixture, and stir to combine. Bring to the boil, then remove from heat and set aside.

Step 3

To make batter, place sunflower oil, flours and 1 tsp salt in a bowl. Slowly whisk in 1 cup (250ml) water until smooth.

Step 4

Half-fill a deep-fryer or large pan with sunflower oil and heat to 180°C (a cube of bread will turn golden in 30 seconds when the oil is hot enough). Remove chicken from marinade and drain in a colander.

Step 5

Coat chicken in batter, allowing excess to drip off. In batches, deep-fry chicken for 5 minutes or until crisp, golden and cooked. Drain on paper towel. Add fried chicken to General Tso’s sauce, and toss to coat. Repeat with remaining chicken.