General Tso’s Florida Alligator with peanut rice, sugar snap peas, and tangerine
Recipe courtesy of Luke Hand, Chef de Cuisine, Quail West Golf & Country Club
Ingredients
- Ingredients for the alligator
- alligator - 1 lb., large dice
- buttermilk - 2 cups
- sambal - 1/2 cup
- soy sauce - 1/2 cup
- corn starch - 1 cup
- potato starch - 1 cup
- rice flour - 1 cup
- canola oil - 2 tsps.
- chopped ginger - 1 tsp.
- chopped garlic - 1 tsp.
- Ingredients for sauce:
- soy - 1/4 cup
- rice vinegar - 1/4 cup
- sambal - 1/4 cup
- sweet soy - 1/4 cup
- granulated sugar - 1/4 cup
- Thai bird chilis - 3 ea., sliced
- Ingredients for rice:
- jasmine rice - 4 cups
- chicken stock - 8 cups
- Thai bird chilis - 3 ea.
- salt and white pepper - to taste
- dry-roasted peanuts - 1/4 cup
- To plate:
- vegetable component and garnish - as needed
- sugar snap peas - 5 ozs., julienned
- purslane - as needed
- pea tendrils - as needed
- scallions - as needed
Instructions
Procedure:
- Marinate alligator in buttermilk, sambal, and soy for at least 2 hours.
- While the alligator is marinating make the rice. Rinse rice for a couple of minutes and then place in a pan. Cover with stock and place peppers in as well. Cover with plastic wrap and aluminum foil. Put in combi oven for 30minutes. Fluff with fork and place on a sheet tray and cool off in cooler for later.
- whisk together corn starch, potato starch, and rice flour and set aside. Also, go ahead and make the sauce mixture. Combine all ingredients and set aside.
- Take alligator out of the marinade and toss in the starch and flour mixture until evenly and completely coated. deep fry @350° until crispy. (If pan-frying, once cooked, take the meat out and dump oil)
- Place 2t of oil in a pan on medium-high heat.
- Add garlic and ginger and sauté till fragrant. About 30-60seconds. Add back the alligator meat and sauce. Toss and coat all the meat and let the sauce reduce by about 1/2 down to a glaze.
- In another pan on medium-high heat, add about 1t of canola oil and the roasted peanuts and rice. Pan fry for about 3 minutes. Place in bowl.
- Return pan to heat and add 2 more teaspoons of oil. Bring to a smoke point and add peas. Season with salt and pepper and cook until roasted nicely.
- Place peas on top of rice and then alligator on top of peas. Drizzle any remaining pan sauce over the finished dish.
- Garnish with tendrils, scallions, and purslane.