If there's one Chinese take-out dish that people ask me about more than any other, it's General Tso Chicken. That crispy, sweet, and slightly spicy chicken is hard to resist, and the good news is that it's entirely possible to make it at home. In this post, I'll break down the sauce, the chicken, and the finishing technique so you can recreate your favourite take-out right in your own kitchen.
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What is General Tso Chicken?
General Tso Chicken, as we know it, is a sweet and slightly spicy chicken dish made with crispy fried chicken. This is not a traditional Chinese dish by any means, though there is a Taiwanese dish called General Tso Chicken created in the 1950s by a chef from the Hunan province of China. The original dish doesn't really resemble the dish that we are used to at all. You can read more about the history of the dish from the Smithsonian Museum here.
There are two key elements to making General Tso Chicken as we know it. The first is the sauce. The second is the chicken. Let's get the sauce down first.
General Tso Sauce
There are many different recipes out there for General Tso Chicken sauce (try saying that five times fast), but I find that many of them are unnecessarily complicated. The sauce that I make has only a handful of ingredients:
- Juice from half an orange
- ¾ cup sugar
- ¼ cup rice vinegar (white vinegar works too)
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 3 tablespoon water
All of these ingredients are left to boil for one minute before the cornstarch and water mixture is added in. From there, the sauce is boiled and whisked for two minutes, then taken off the heat until it is time to use it. The key to a great sauce is understanding the balance of sweet, salty, and sour-something I get into in more detail in my post on sauce making.
The Chicken
For the original version of General Tso Chicken and most authentic Chinese chicken dishes, whole chickens are cut up and used bone-in. A dish would rarely ever be just chicken breast or thigh. They use the whole bird. However, it is way more common in North America to use chicken breast in General Tso Chicken and most other Chinese chicken recipes. So, for this recipe, chicken breast it is. In total, I used three large chicken breasts.
There are two key points I want to make relating to the chicken breast. First of all, it is much easier to cut if it is partially frozen. Second of all, don't worry about getting the chicken pieces all the same size. Most recipes call for cubed chicken, and that's fine, but I prefer sliced. Sliced chicken fries quicker and gets crispier than cubed chicken.
Don't Worry About Evenly Cutting the Chicken
Let me clarify something really quickly. I'm not trying to make these dishes the best they possibly can be with this whole series. I'm trying to mimic what you would get if you ordered from the best Chinese take-out place in your area. All I mean by that is that I am not trying to elevate these dishes. I don't think they need it. So, there are some things that I will do, like what I'm about to explain to you, that I would never normally do. But to simulate an authentic experience, sometimes the wrong thing is the right thing.
Cutting the Chicken
When you order a dish like General Tso Chicken from your favourite Chinese place, some of the chicken will be very crispy, some will be a little crispy, and some will be overcooked and even more crispy. That's alright. In fact, it is great. I love it in this specific situation. So, slice the chicken, and don't worry about some pieces being tiny compared to others. This will only add to the dish's authenticity and your eating experience.
Breading and Frying The Chicken
Once the chicken is cut, it needs to be battered. The Chinese style of doing this is simple and delicious. The chicken gets tossed in a mixture of beaten egg whites, salt, and pepper, then tossed in cornstarch. I season my cornstarch with onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and white pepper to add a bit more flavour. From there, the chicken gets deep-fried until golden brown, crispy, and cooked through. I had to cook my chicken in three batches because of my fryer's size, and you will likely need to do the same.
Just like with last week's chicken balls, if you don't have a fryer, borrow one from a friend and share your feast with them. If you're new to working with hot oil, you might want to brush up on some cooking terms first so you feel confident with the technique.
Finishing The General Tso Chicken
The Final Flavours
So, we have the sauce and chicken all ready to go. But the dish isn't done just yet. Obviously, we have to combine the sauce and the chicken, but there are a few elements we need to incorporate first. Heat a wok or large high-sided skillet over medium-high heat, then add one to two tablespoons of sesame oil (you can use a different oil if you'd prefer). Swirl the oil around the wok, then add in:
- 2 tablespoon sliced ginger
- 2 tablespoon sliced garlic
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (more if you like it spicier)
Cook the ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes for a minute or two or just until they start to brown. This is a technique straight out of stir fry cooking-getting your aromatics right makes all the difference.
Adding the Chicken and The Sauce
When the ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes are ready to go, fire the chicken into the wok and toss it to coat it in the spices. Next, add in the sauce. Toss the chicken again (you can stir from the bottom up if you'd prefer that to tossing), to coat it in the sauce and tip it out of the wok and onto a plate. Garnish the chicken with sesame seeds and green onions if you have them.
Recipe
Ingredients
Chicken
- 3 Chicken Breast, sliced
- 2 Egg Whites Beaten
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1 teaspoon Onion Powder
- ½ tsp White Pepper
- Oil for frying
Sauce
- Juice from ½ an orange
- ¼ cup Soy Sauce
- ¾ cup Sugar
- ¼ cup Rice Vinegar
- 2 tablespoon Cornstarch
- 3 tablespoon Water
To Finish
- 2 tablespoon Ginger, sliced
- 2 tablespoon Garlic, Sliced
- ½ teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper Flakes More if you like a bit more heat
- 2 teaspoon Sesame Oil
Instructions
Chicken
- Beat the egg whites and season with the salt and black pepper.
- In a separate bowl mix the cornstarch, onion powder, garlic powder, and white pepper.
- Working with ⅓ of the chicken at a time coat it in the egg white then into the cornstach. Shake off any excess then fry at 365°F until crispy and brown, about 6 minutes.
- Once the chicken is cooked, shake off excess oil, and toss in a metal bowl. Continue until all of the chicken has been fried.
Sauce
- Put the orange juice, sugar, vinegar, and soy sauce in a medium pot and bring to a boil. Boil for one minute.
- In a small bowl whisk together the cornstarch and water. Whisk it into the sauce and boil, while stirring for two minutes.
- Take the sauce off the heat and set it aside until you are ready to use it.
To Finish
- Heat a large wok over medium-high heat.
- Add in the sesame oil, garlic, ginger and crushed red pepper flakes. Cook for 1-2 minutes or until the gigner and garlic starts to brown.
- Add the fried chicken to the wok and toss to evenly distribute the ginger, garlic and red pepper.
- Add the sauce, and toss/stir just until the chicken is coated then serve.
- Garnish the chicken with sesame seeds.
Final Thoughts
This General Tso Chicken was hands down one of the best things I've made in a long time, and I genuinely think you'll feel the same way once you try it. If you enjoy this kind of cooking, be sure to check out my Chinese Lemon Chicken and BBQ Pork Chow Mein recipes for more take-out favourites you can make at home.
Beverly says
We love this recipe. So delicious. My question is about the amount of orange juice. Recipe says juice from half an orange. Would that be half cup, third of a cup. Sorry, my ocd is showing. Lol
Chef Ben Kelly says
Thank you Beverly. I'm glad you like the recipe. Good question. It would be closer to a 1/4 cup of orange juice