General Tso's chicken

Punch the chicken breasts about ten times a side with a jacquard, or pierce 20 to 30 times a side with a sharp fork.

Slice each breast into three or four long strips and cut into about three quarter inch cubes.

Mix the chicken with the soy sauce, mirin, MSG, baking soda and potato starch and marinate 20 minutes.

Combine the flour, baking powder, garlic powder, salt and potato starch as the dry mix.

Measure 250 grams of the dry mix into a bowl and stir in 300 grams of water to a thin pancake batter.

Whisk 200 grams of that batter back into the rest of the dry mix, then crumble by hand into thousands of small craggy bits.

Flip about a third of the chicken into the batter at a time and stir gently, keeping the marinade clinging to the outside.

Lift out, drain, and tumble in the crags by lifting from the bottom and fluffing, then shower each piece with fresh crags while squeezing softly.

Rest the breaded chicken in the fridge 20 minutes to hydrate the flour against the meat and improve adhesion.

Stir the soy sauce, sesame oil, mirin, rice vinegar, sambal, ketchup, sugar, brown sugar, cornstarch and MSG together until the sugar and cornstarch dissolve.

Fill a roughly seven quart Dutch oven one and a half to two inches with peanut oil, never more than halfway.

At about 325F lower the chicken in with a spider in two batches and do not touch it for at least a minute.

After about 60 seconds push and pull gently with the spider so nothing sticks, then fry untouched another six to seven minutes, seven to eight total.

Drain on a wire rack or paper towel lined plate and fry the second batch.

Heat a wok over high heat with a long squeeze of high smoke point oil and stir fry the scallions 60 seconds.

Add the cracked de-seeded arbol chilies and stir fry about a minute to infuse the oil.

Add the ginger and garlic and stir fry 30 to 60 seconds, keeping it moving.

Pour the sauce around the hot edge of the wok to catch caramelization, bring to a simmer and boil until thickened and reduced by 15 to 20 percent.

Add the fried chicken and toss over high heat for a few seconds so the sauce saturates some of the breading.