LÓPEZ-ALT: For something like General Tso’s, for example, my big goal from the very beginning was to get the chicken as crusty and craggly as possible; to make sure it developed a crust that would stay crispy even after you tossed it in this gloopy sauce. My testing for that recipe was with various types of breading and frying methods to enhance that crispness.
DUBNER: Can you name a few of each? The breading and methods?
LÓPEZ-ALT: All right, if you want to start with basics: I tried dipping it in cornstarch. I tried dipping it in a cornstarch slurry followed by dried cornstarch. I tried using various mixes of cornstarch and wheat flour. I tried potato starch. I tried tapioca starch. I tried doing a southern style, like brining the chicken in Asian flavors with a little bit of buttermilk to tenderize it. I tried using eggs versus no eggs. Many different things like that. The final recipe I ended up with uses some vodka in the batter.
DUBNER: You’re fond of vodka for battering, yes?
LÓPEZ-ALT: I am. I use it in a few different things. Usually you use it when you want to develop crispness but also maintain the lightness because vodka will help moisten a batter or a dough. But it doesn’t develop gluten the way that water does, so it stays nice and light and doesn’t get tough. The other thing that vodka does is it evaporates much faster than water does. It’s more volatile than water, so when you put food that’s been dipped into a batter made with vodka into hot oil, that vodka really violently bubbles away very quickly. That lightens up the coating and it makes it much crisper.
DUBNER: Gotcha. Which of those coatings ended up winning?
LÓPEZ-ALT: I believe I did a mixture of vodka, corn starch and a little bit of wheat flour along with some soy sauce. Then, the chicken gets dipped in that wet batter and then tossed in a dry starch mixture.
http://freakonomics.com/podcast/food-science-victory-rebroadcast/
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