General Tso's Turtle Stir Fry

 

      We both enjoy turtle meat, having made it into soups and stews for several years now.  Turtles are an amazing piece of meat.  Actually, there about 7 different types of meat in each turtle; size, texture, taste, etc.  Again, this spring we got a couple of pounds of it from a meat market in Houston and when home enjoyed some delicious 'Snapper Soup'.  

      Of course, I am never one to settle for what works, but sometimes I look further for what could be even tastier, perhaps in another environment.

      Believe it or not, General Tso's chicken (which I love), found on probably every Chinese food restaurant menu in America, isn't really a Chinese dish -- a more accurate description would be "Chinese inspired."  It was not created by a Chinese general, but rather named for the general by the chef who created it.  I adapted this recipe. 

        We'll call it Cajun Chinese Fusion.  Choice of side vegetables or egg roll is a matter of choice.  WARNING:  depending on use of peppers/hot sauce this can be very spicy.  

Marinade:
4 tablespoons corn starch
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Sauce:
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon Chinese black vinegar
2 tablespoons tomato paste mixed with
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon corn starch

Stir-fry:
1 pound turtle meat, cut into bite-sized pieces
3 tablespoons canola
1 tsp Flatiron Red Pepper flakes
1 tablespoon grated ginger
3 garlic cloves, sliced thin
6 green onions, chopped

Instructions:
      Mix the marinade ingredients together and then add the turtle meat. Let sit for
about an hour.

      Heat canola oil or your favorite frying oil to about 350 degrees and fry the turtle
in small batches, being careful to not let the pieces stick together.  After the
pieces are fried, remove from heat and set aside.

      Mix together the sauce and set aside.  In wok, heat 3 tablespoons of canola oil and stir
 fry the pepper flakes about a minute, then add the ginger and cook for another minute, lastly
 add the garlic and stir it a couple of times in the pan.

       Add all the turtle pieces and the green onions to the oil.  Pour the sauce mixture
over the turtle and stir until it thickens, adding corn starch as needed. Once the sauce thickens, serve the turtle over rice with eggrolls.  Barb and I found this to be pretty darned hot so I reduced the red pepper flakes to 1 tsp.  

"Soups are a great way to introduce a lot of vegetable to kids.  Stir frys too, because they introduce so many new shapes and colors"

Emeril Lagasse 

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