General Tsao’s Chicken Wings & Spaghetti-Pistachio Salad

Its now official. Chinese and Italian can be mixed! And it takes an Indian to figure that out. How cool is that!

Today, the world shall see how I use the famous General Tsao’s Chicken recipe and make Chicken Wings sans the drawbacks of frying! Ingredients for General Tsao’s Chicken Wings are:

500 grams chicken wings (skin on)
One and half tablespoon of corn starch
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil
3 tablespoons vinegar
2-3 tablespoons sambal or any chili-based sauce
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon minced ginger
2 tablespoons minced garlic
Half cup finely chopped green onions
1 tablespoon red chili/paprika powder
2-3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons canola oil
Salt

Cut chicken wings into halves and discard the thin end. Wash thoroughly and drain the excess water. Add two tablespoons canola oil, spread the chicken wings on a baking sheet and bake at 375 °C for approximately 20 minutes on each side.
In a glass bowl, mix corn starch, soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar, sambal, water, minced ginger and garlic, paprika and little salt. (Be careful since the soy sauce already has sodium content.) Whisk well to mix all the ingredients.
Now for glazing the chicken wings. In a thick pan, caramelize sugar. When the sugar starts turning brown, add the sauce mixture and mix well.
Add the baked chicken wings and coat them well with the sauce. Garnish with green onions. Serve hot!
 
That’s a classic Chinese recipe turned into an oasis of chicken serenity for you! Don’t you wish you had Wings to fly too…

My main to go along with the wings is a simple and very easy Spaghettini Salad with the goodness of crunchy Pistachios and the most trusted Italian herb, Basil.

Ingredients for the Pistachio Spaghettini Salad are:

Spaghetti (enough for 2-3 people)
Quarter cup green peas
Quarter cup pistachios, minced
Few sprigs of fresh basil
3-4 tablespoons EVOO
Half teaspoon black pepper powder
Juice of half lemon
Salt

Boil the spaghetti according to package instructions. Do not forget to salt the boiling water and add a few drops of oil. Yes, in this case mixing oil and water is necessary, unlike what BP is doing to the ecology.

Drain the spaghetti and cool.
In a bowl, add the green peas, minced pistachios, and EVOO. Season with lemon juice and salt and pepper. (If you are worried about the raw green peas, don’t fret. The heat from the spaghetti will soften and almost cook the peas without dehydrating them.)

Tear the basil leaves and add to the spaghetti and other ingredients. Toss everything together and serve warm. Now that’s a very healthy and colorful spaghetti salad. I expect you to show some respect and call it Miss Spaghetti, Ma’am, before you chow down on it!

I came up with this recipe with an Italian attitude of Que Sera Sera.

Hoping I can transfer this same zest in my everyday life too…