This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please visit the disclosures and privacy policy page.
Feb 20, 2013

General Tso's Chicken

This General Tso's Chicken is reminiscent of New York City Chinese take out from the 20th century. It's sweet, spicy, and crispy. It's completely delicious too.






This General Tso's Chicken is reminiscent of New York City Chinese take out from the 20th century. It's sweet, spicy, and crispy. It's completely delicious too.

It's almost the last day of the fifteen days of Chinese New Year, and a new wok somehow landed on my doorstep in a box that had a smiley arrow on it. How does this keep happening?

This General Tso's Chicken is reminiscent of New York City Chinese take out from the 20th century. It's sweet, spicy, and crispy. It's completely delicious too.



I think it might have something to do with listening to an old Splendid Table podcast with Ming Tsai as the guest talking about the virtues of using a wok.

The first dish I tried was this vegetable stir fry. Loved it.

For my next try, I decided to be adventurous and try deep frying in the wok. I am more than excited about how this chicken turned out, and it was really easy. We served it with rice and a salad, and it was a wonderful meal. The chicken was so incredibly crispy.

Update: February, 2017, four years later! This is still one of my favorite dishes. I've updated the photos for this post for the Year of the Rooster, but left this photo below from my original post. If you follow this blog, you know that I've been stir-frying for four years now! I can't believe this is was my second stir-fry in my wok. Here's one of the original photos.

This General Tso's Chicken is reminiscent of New York City Chinese take out from the 20th century. It's sweet, spicy, and crispy. It's completely delicious too.

General Tso's Chicken

About 3 servings if it is the only main course... more if you are serving several dishes (like Chinese takeout!)  Adapted with permission from Appetite for China, and The Chinese Takeout Cookbook: Quick and Easy Dishes to Prepare at Home. Here is a link to the original recipe.

Yield: 4 servings if you are serving several dishes

General Tso's Chicken

ingredients:


  • 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs sliced into one inch cubes
  • 1 1/2 cups cornstarch
  • 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp freshly ground pepper
  • 3 cups (for frying) plus 1 T (for stir frying) peanut or vegetable oil
  • 1/4 generous tsp red chili flakes
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
  • 2 to 3 scallions, thinly sliced
Marinade
  • 1 T soy sauce
  • 1 T shaoxing rice wine (or dry sherry)
  • 2 egg whites
Sauce
  • 1/4 cup chicken stock or broth
  • 1 1/2 T tomato paste
  • 1 T soy sauce
  • 1 tsp hoisin sauce
  • 1 tsp chili paste
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 1 T sugar
  • 1 tsp cornstarch

instructions:


  1. In a large bowl, combine the marinade ingredients. Add the chicken pieces and stir to coat. Set aside for 10 minutes. 
  2. In a small bowl, combine all of the sauce ingredients and whisk to dissolve the cornstarch. Set aside. 
  3. In a large shallow bowl, whisk together the cornstarch, salt, and pepper. 
  4. Toss in the marinated chicken pieces to coat with the cornstarch mixture and place the pieces on a plate to "stage" them for frying. 
  5. Heat the three cups of oil in the wok to 350 degrees F. In two or three batches, (three for me), fry the chicken pieces for 4 to 5 minutes, until golden brown and fully cooked through. 
  6. using a spider or slotted spoon, remove the chicken to a paper towel lined plate. Repeat. 
  7. Pour the oil into a heat proof container, and wipe out the wok (don't wash it). 
  8. Reheat the wok with 1 T of oil over medium to high heat. 
  9. Add the chili flakes and garlic and cook for 20 seconds. 
  10. Add the sauce and stir until thickened, about 1 to 2 minutes. 
  11. Add the chicken pieces and stir until coated with the sauce. 
  12. Place the coated chicken pieces in a serving dish and sprinkle with the sesame seeds and scallions. 

Enjoy! I was thrilled with this dish.

Disclosure: For this post, I am joining the Chinese New Year Virtual Pot Luck hosted by Diana Kuan, to celebrate the release of her first cookbook, The Chinese Takeout Cookbook.  U.S. based participants in the Chinese New Year Potluck will receive a copy of the book. 

This General Tso's Chicken is reminiscent of New York City Chinese take out from the 20th century. It's sweet, spicy, and crispy. It's completely delicious too.



Would you like to comment?

  1. This looks incredible! Homemade Chinese food is far superior to takeout - I don't want to order out anymore. It's only seven am and this is making me so hungry. Fabulous photos.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Cathleen! Don't tell anyone, but I actually had the leftovers for breakfast the next day =)

      Delete
    2. Had to steal it from my own house. :-).

      Delete
    3. I can't believe it has been three years since my original comment! I just got around to making this for dinner tonight. Hubby loved it; and I loved the crispy texture of the chicken. Thanks for the recipe!! :)

      Delete
    4. I'm so glad you liked it! I need to make this again. So love the flavors.

      Delete
  2. General Tso's leftovers for breakfast sounds great to me. :) Thanks for participating in the potluck, Karen!

    ReplyDelete
  3. True story .. we had general tsos take out for dinner .. I told Hubbie I really need to find a recipe so I can make it at home .. little did I know you were coming to the rescue. This looks amazing and I will definitely be making this for the man its his absolute favorite! Thank you for sharing!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Can you believe I've never had this dish? I just printed off another recipe last week and now I'll incorporate your recipe, too! It looks divine!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much Liz. I was really happy with this recipe.

      Delete
  5. Hi Karen, what type of chili paste do you recommend to use for this recipe? Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  6. We tried this today in our kitchen and it was just incredible! In fact, half of the serving was gone in a minute!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Im going to try this one day. Looks amazingly good! Thank you for sharing this one.

    ReplyDelete
  8. This looks and seems so delicious! I kept coming back for this recipe. I must try. I've come across different General Tso's Chicken recipes, but I think I this is the recipe for me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just remade this and it was as good as I remembered!

      Delete
  9. What is it with those boxes that keep showing up at the door? Happens all the time to me too! We'll just call it a gift from the heavens!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I've made this recipe reportedly... absolutely delicious. Taste way better than mr.chin

    ReplyDelete

I would love to hear from you! If you comment anonymously, be sure to leave your name in your comment.