One of the more interesting aspects of American Chinese cuisine is that like the cuisines that shaped influenced it – China’s diverse fabric of techniques, ingredients, and traditions – it has developed its own regional specialties. New England has its Chop Suey. The upper Midwest has – of all things – egg foo young sandwiches. My hometown of Columbus Ohio has War Su Gai.
Don’t be surprised if it’s not a dish you’ve ever seen on the takeout menu. I really is apparently a local thing – mostly unique to the Columbus and Detroit areas, though I swear I remember my dad ordering it at a place in Sudbury, Ontario. It was one of his favorite dishes.
War Su Gai is a battered fried chicken cutlet (or in some cases chunks of chicken) topped with a iridescent yellow ginger gravy, sliced scallions, and fried almonds (or sometimes peanuts) and served over a bed of shredded iceberg or romaine lettuce. You can’t swap in fancier greens -they don’t work The lettuce isn’t just a garnish,, the watery crunch of those lettuces are integral to the dish.
Most places you’ll find it it’s probably served with rice, but I tend to eat it almost as an appetizer – just shoveling mouthfuls of delicious hot from the fryer chicken and sauce and crisp lettuce and crunchy nuts … it’s an amazingly satisfying dish.
Chicken Thigh War Su Gai
Course: Main, AppetizersCuisine: American Chinese, Chinese, American4
servings10
minutes20
minutesIngredients
- Chicken
4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
½ cup corn starch
½ cup AP flour
1 egg
aprox ¼ cup cold water
½ tsp garlic powder
1 tsp kosher salt (divided)
Shredded Iceberg or Romaine Lettuce
¼ cup chopped blanched almonds, marcona almonds, or roasted peanuts
Oil for frying
Sliced green onions/scallions for garnish
- Ginger Gravy
1 ½ cups chicken stock
¼ cup water
1 tbsp corn starch
1 tbsp minced ginger
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp lemon juice
1/8 tsp ground turmeric
½ tsp kosher salt
Directions
- Chicken
- Season the chicken thighs with ½ tsp of kosher salt and set aside while you prepare the batter.
- Whisk together the corn starch, flour, and remaining ½ tsp salt.
- Beat the egg well.
- Whisk the egg, and water into the dry ingredients to form a fairly thin, but smooth batter.
- Set up your fryer, dutch oven, or a heavy bottomed pan with at least 1 ½ inches of oil.
- Heat the oil to 325°F.
- Working in batches, dip each piece of chicken into the batter and carefully lower into the hot oil oil.
- Fry at ~325°F until well browned and crispy.
- Serve on a bed of shredded lettuce, topped with ginger gravy, sliced scallions, and chopped nuts.
- Ginger Gravy
- In a thick bottomed pan, bring 1 ½ cups of Asian style chicken stock to a simmer.
- Add the turmeric (this gives it the distinctive yellow color), ginger and garlic and simmer until reduced to a little more than 1 cup.
- Strain out the solids and return the liquid to the pan and return to a low simmer.
- Whisk together ¼ cup of water and 1 tbsp corn starch to form a smooth slurry.
- Whisk the slurry into stock and simmer until thickened.
- Add lemon juice, and season with salt to taste.
Be sure to check out my other food project, The Weekly Menu!
Recipe was good. But the anoint of water is off on the batter 1/4 cup made a dough I just kept adding water until it made a thin batter.
Were you introduced to War Su Gai at Ding Ho in Columbus, Ohio? That’s where my parents starting ordering it in the late 1950s. We just went there Saturday for lunch with my sister and her family. Still as delicious as ever! And Ding Ho makes their egg rolls from scratch! Yum!
I just made this , not as good as we have had at China Town. In Mansfield, Ohio, they also make the egg rolls from scratch. And serve it with the War Su Gai as an appetizer, my favorite