Beyond General Tso: Chinese chicken that lets the bird shine

Steamed, poached and braised dishes reveal the cuisine’s subtler side

Americans eat a lot of chicken; the National Chicken Council estimates we’ll eat 93.1 pounds per person in 2018, up from 92.2 pounds in 2017 and 83.8 pounds in 2008.

While a lot of that is in the form of chicken Caesar salad, wings, grilled and fried chicken sandwiches, roasted chicken and fried chicken, there are plenty of other approaches that chicken is making headway in the United States, and quite a few of them have Chinese origins.

Quite apart from Chinese takeout staples such as sweet-and-fried General Tso’s Chicken — which was possibly developed in its current form in New York City — and Kung Pao Chicken, made by stir-frying diced chicken cubes with peanuts and chiles, many up-and-coming Chinese chicken dishes are subtler, and allow chicken’s actual flavor to emerge.

Link to original news: Beyond General Tso: Chinese chicken that lets the bird shine