GENERAL TSO'S CHICKEN
By Simbooker on May 16th 2014
Files & Tags: recipes, index, chicken, chinese & chinese american, asian, soy sauce, chili pepper
This post has been updated with new photos and an improved recipe.
I first had General Tso's Chicken, when I was staying with my aunt and uncle some years ago in Pennsylvania. I remember enjoying it, and wanting to eat infinite portions. It's a Chinese-American dish, but as far as I'm concerned it's as Chinese as can be.
All the ingredients used are either Chinese, or ingredients commonly used in Chinese cuisine. It isn't much different from sweet and sour chicken, sesame chicken, or orange chicken. This recipe is da bomb!
RECIPE AND INGREDIENTS
The Chicken: from this to that
The Sauce: Whisk all of these ingredients together
1/4 Cup Chicken Stock, 3 tbs Sugar, 1 tbs of Red Wine Vinegar or Rice Wine Vinegar, 1 tbs Hoisin Sauce, 1 tbs Barbecue Sauce, 1 tbs Tamarind Sauce,
2 tbs Soy Sauce, 1 tsp Sesame Oil, 3 tbs of sweet Chilli Sauce,
1 tsp Black Pepper, 2 tbs of grated ginger or ginger paste
2 tbs of garlic paste, 1 tsp Salt, (1/2 tsp Cornstarch) Optional
Please Note:
If you don't have chicken stock use chicken bouillon and melt it in 1/4 cup of water. Please don't worry if you don't have 1 or 2 of the
Sauces, Hoisin or Barbecue Sauce alone will do, but combined,
these three sauces give a nice depth of flavor.
The Preparation:
Chop up 2 Scallions for garnish, I used 1 cup of Cornstarch for this recipe, the amount of cornstarch depends on the quantity of chicken. I used 6 chicken thighs for this recipe.
The Chicken:
6 Boneless thighs cut into large chunked cubes. Crack 2 Eggs and immerse the chunks of chicken in the egg whites. Then pour the cornstarch over the chicken and mix in well. In a wok, pan, or iron skillet, heat at least 2 cups of Vegetable or Peanut oil. You may need more. You need to fry these in batches on high heat til very crisp, don't overcrowd the pan.
Once the oil heats up drop the chicken into the pan. Make sure there is enough room between the chicken so they fry properly. Fry until golden brown and crisp. This should take about five minutes or more depending on the amount of chicken in the pan. Be patient, and don’t play with the chicken, let the chicken fry until very crisp. Test crispiness by tapping chicken with the back of a fork. The chicken must be very crisp otherwise this recipe won't work. Don't remove any chicken pieces from the pan until the chicken is crisp. This is a crucial step in the process.
Remove chicken with tongs or a large spoon and place into a sieve to drain off. And continue to fry any remaining chicken in batches. Once done discard oil or save in an air tight container for re-use. Get rid of the residue in the bottom of the pan and wipe with a hot cloth.
The Grand Finale
Remember that sauce mixture you should have whisked together earlier? Pour it into the pan. Let this sauté and cook for at least a minute. Then add all the fried chicken cubes into the pan, mix together with the sauce, and allow the sauce to coat the chicken. I usually take a large spoon and pour bits of the sauce over the chicken to ensure they are well coated.
This process should take a few minutes. Serve as desired.
1/4 Cup Chicken Stock, 3 tbs Sugar, 1 tbs of Red Wine Vinegar or Rice Wine Vinegar, 1 tbs Hoisin Sauce, 1 tbs Barbecue Sauce, 1 tbs Tamarind Sauce,
2 tbs Soy Sauce, 1 tsp Sesame Oil, 3 tbs of sweet Chilli Sauce,
1 tsp Black Pepper, 2 tbs of grated ginger or ginger paste
2 tbs of garlic paste, 1 tsp Salt, (1/2 tsp Cornstarch) Optional
Please Note:
If you don't have chicken stock use chicken bouillon and melt it in 1/4 cup of water. Please don't worry if you don't have 1 or 2 of the
Sauces, Hoisin or Barbecue Sauce alone will do, but combined,
these three sauces give a nice depth of flavor.
The Preparation:
Chop up 2 Scallions for garnish, I used 1 cup of Cornstarch for this recipe, the amount of cornstarch depends on the quantity of chicken. I used 6 chicken thighs for this recipe.
The Chicken:
6 Boneless thighs cut into large chunked cubes. Crack 2 Eggs and immerse the chunks of chicken in the egg whites. Then pour the cornstarch over the chicken and mix in well. In a wok, pan, or iron skillet, heat at least 2 cups of Vegetable or Peanut oil. You may need more. You need to fry these in batches on high heat til very crisp, don't overcrowd the pan.
Once the oil heats up drop the chicken into the pan. Make sure there is enough room between the chicken so they fry properly. Fry until golden brown and crisp. This should take about five minutes or more depending on the amount of chicken in the pan. Be patient, and don’t play with the chicken, let the chicken fry until very crisp. Test crispiness by tapping chicken with the back of a fork. The chicken must be very crisp otherwise this recipe won't work. Don't remove any chicken pieces from the pan until the chicken is crisp. This is a crucial step in the process.
Remove chicken with tongs or a large spoon and place into a sieve to drain off. And continue to fry any remaining chicken in batches. Once done discard oil or save in an air tight container for re-use. Get rid of the residue in the bottom of the pan and wipe with a hot cloth.
The Grand Finale
Remember that sauce mixture you should have whisked together earlier? Pour it into the pan. Let this sauté and cook for at least a minute. Then add all the fried chicken cubes into the pan, mix together with the sauce, and allow the sauce to coat the chicken. I usually take a large spoon and pour bits of the sauce over the chicken to ensure they are well coated.
This process should take a few minutes. Serve as desired.