Chicken Marinade

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450g (1lb, ~2 breasts) boneless skinless chicken breast

30g (2T) soy sauce

30g (2T) mirin

2g (½t) MSG

2g (½t) baking soda

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Flour Dredge

30g (¼c) potato starch (sub cornstarch)

350g (≈3c) all-purpose flour

10g (2.5t) baking powder

8g (2.5t) garlic powder

20g (1T) salt

350g (≈1 ¾c) potato starch

300g (1 ¼c) water

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General Tso’s Sauce

60g (4T) soy sauce

30g (2T) sesame oil

60g (4T) mirin

45g (3T) rice vinegar

30g (2T) sambal oelek or sriracha

20g (1T + 1t) ketchup

70g (⅓c) sugar

10g (1T + 1t) cornstarch

1g (¼t) MSG

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The Rest

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40g (≈⅓c) sliced scallion whites/light greens (reserve dark greens for garnish)

5–8 dried chiles de árbol, cracked and deseeded (optional if spice-sensitive)

20g (≈3T) grated ginger

20g (5 cloves) grated garlic

Neutral high-smoke oil for frying (peanut, canola), about 1.5–2in depth in pot

Steamed rice, to serve

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1. Prep chicken. Jaccard each breast ~10 times per side (or poke 20–30 times per side with a sharp fork). Slice each breast into 3–4 long strips, then cut into ~¾in cubes.

2. Marinate. In a medium bowl combine soy sauce, mirin, MSG, baking soda, and potato starch. Add chicken and mix to coat. Rest 20 min.

3. Make dry mix. In a large bowl whisk flour, baking powder, garlic powder, salt, and potato starch until uniform.

4. Build adhesion batter. In a separate bowl, weigh 250g of the dry mix. Add 300g water and stir until it looks like thin pancake batter/low-quality paint.

5. Make craggy bits. Pour 200g of the batter into the remaining dry mix. Briefly whisk, then use your hand to rub and crumble until you've got rice-to-lentil sized pebbles with a powdery background.

6. Dredge. Toss about ⅓ of the marinated chicken in the batter bowl to lightly coat (be gentle to keep marinade on the meat). Lift, let excess drip, then drop into the craggy dry mix. Fluff/tumble to build a strong base layer without rubbing it off. For each piece, shower on extra craggy bits and give a soft squeeze, then shake off excess. Repeat with remaining chicken.

7. Rest. Spread breaded chicken on a ¼ sheet tray and refrigerate 20 min.

8. Sauce. In a bowl whisk soy sauce, sesame oil, mirin, rice vinegar, sambal, ketchup, sugar, brown sugar (in the 70g sugar), cornstarch, and MSG until smooth. Set aside.

9. Fry. Heat neutral oil in a Dutch oven to about 325°F (1.5–2in depth; never fill pot more than 50%). Fry chicken in two batches. Gently lower in, don't touch for 1 minute, then nudge to prevent sticking. Fry 6–7 min until deeply golden "McNuggery." Drain on a rack or paper towel. Repeat with second batch.

10. Stir-fry aromatics. Carefully move the hot oil aside (off oven). Heat a wok or large nonstick pan over high. Add a squeeze of oil, then scallions; stir-fry 60 sec. Add cracked chiles (optional) and toast briefly. Add ginger and garlic; stir constantly 30–40 sec until just fragrant.

11. Glaze. Pour in the sauce around the hot pan edge. Bring to a boil and reduce 15–20% until it leaves a trail. Add fried chicken and toss ~30 sec to simmer in the sauce.

12. Serve. Pile over steamed rice. Spoon on any extra sauce from the wok. Garnish with reserved scallion greens.