General Tso's chicken

Separate two egg whites into a large bowl and beat until frothy.

Beat in the dark soy sauce, cooking wine and vodka, then set aside half the marinade for the breading.

Into the remaining half whisk the baking soda and cornstarch until smooth with no lumps.

Cut the chicken thighs into one inch pieces, mix into the marinade by hand until evenly coated, cover and set aside about 20 minutes.

Combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt in a shallow wide pan and whisk until homogeneous.

Rub a few tablespoons of the reserved marinade into the flour with the fingers to make tiny clumps of breading.

Whisk the dark soy sauce, cooking wine, rice wine vinegar, chicken stock, sugar, sesame oil and cornstarch together in a small bowl until smooth.

Thinly slice the scallion whites and about two inches of the greens.

Heat two tablespoons of vegetable oil in a high-walled saute pan over medium-high until shimmering, add most of the scallions and grate in the garlic and ginger; cook about one minute until fragrant.

Add the arbol chilies and cook about one minute more.

Pour in the sauce mixture, scrape up the bottom of the pan and cook one more minute until thickened.

Heat a quart of vegetable oil to 375F.

Toss the marinated chicken in the flour mixture one piece at a time until all are coated.

Fry in batches about four minutes per batch, lowering the pieces in gently and not crowding, then drain on a wire rack set in a rimmed baking sheet and hold in a low oven.

Return the sauce to medium-low heat and toss the chicken to coat.

For the rice, bring the package specified amount of water to a boil in a small saucepan, add the rice, cover and place in a 375F oven 15 to 20 minutes.

Season the rice with kosher salt, pile the chicken on top and garnish with the reserved sliced scallions.