Title: Hypothetical Tso
Categories: Entree Poultry Chinese
Yield: 4 Servings

1	lb	Chicken thigh meat; *
1/8	c	Sherry or rice wine
1/8	c	Soy sauce [regular soy]
1		Garlic clove; mashed fine
1/2	c	Cornstarch; approx **
20		Dry Hot peppers ***
		Oil for stir-frying ****
2		Garlic cloves; mashed @
10	sl	Ginger root; [1/4" thick]
1/2	ts	Salt to taste
1	tb	Sugar [brown or white]
1/2	c	Dark soy sauce @@
3/4	c	Chicken broth or more; @@@
2	bn	Watercress; washed @@@@
2		Scallions

NB ML's ingredients notes * ML prefers thigh meat, but white meat will do. Cut in 1/2" chunks. ** Original specified Water chestnut flour. *** Chinese or Thai best, but Mexican hot peppers will also do. **** Some recipes deep fry chicken ML prefers stir fried. @ ML would use more. (Crushed but not pureed. IMH) @@ Regular soy will do, but in this case, leave out salt. @@@ Thin chinese style, otherwise omit the salt. @@@@ Don't use Brocolli as they often do in chinese restaurants.

[like what I eat, only I don't use a recipe; NOT like restaurant Tso]

Clean the scallions, discarding dried outer leaves and roots. Slice both white and green parts very thinly and set aside to use at the last minute as a garnish. Marinate chicken in soy and sherry with the garlic. Dredge in starch. In a hot wok, stir-fry the ginger, garlic, and hot peppers in oil. Push them to one side (discard them if you feel like doing so - I usually toss ginger but keep garlic in and separate out hot peppers for me to eat by myself). In this oil, stir-fry the chicken until it's firm. Add sugar and salt and dark soy and broth. Cook until sauce is thick (if it's too thick, add more broth). In a separate pan or wok, stir-fry watercress in a small amount of oil over very high heat for 30 seconds. Mound watercress on a platter, make an indentation in the middle, pour in the chicken, and strew scallions over. Serve with plain white rice.

This is neither crunchy nor sweet as the dish is usually served in restaurants. This is more or less the way it used to come out of the kitchen at Say Eng Look in New York, which served the best version I've ever eaten (that includes my own). Recent visits to that restaurant have yielded a more standard version.

From: Michael Loo Date: 12-26-94 From: Gourmet Mmed IMH

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