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General Tso's Chicken
General Tso's chicken (Mandarin: Zuo Zongtang ji in) is a popular battered-chicken recipe in Chinese-American restaurants, allegedly hailing from Hunan province in China. However, the stories of the recipes heritage involving Zuo Zongtang (General Tso) are probably apocryphal, and it is more likely to be a dish based on similar Hunanese recipes, invented to please the American diner. Nonetheless, it is tasty and easy to prepare. While the dish is traditionally deep-fried, it tastes just as good when shallow-fried—a safer and easier option.
Ingredients
- chicken dark meat, raw, boneless and skinless750 g
- egg1
- light soy sauce1 tbsp
- seasoning, to taste
- cornstarch2–3 tbsp
- oil, for deep-frying, or enough to shallow-fry700 ml
- dark soy sauce2 tbsp
- rice vinegar1 tbsp
- red Shaoxing rice wine, red1 tbsp
- sugar1 tbsp
- chicken stock or water, or water3 tbsp
- ginger, finely chopped1 tbsp
- garlic, crushed and minced1 tbsp
- cornstarch, to thicken sauce; optional1 tbsp
- spring onions, chopped4
- dried chile pepper, chopped1 tbsp
Quantities are auto-calculated from the original recipe as a guide. Items without numbers (e.g. “to taste”) are not changed.
Method 11 steps
Cut the chicken into 2 cm (¾ inch) cubes.
Beat the egg, light soy sauce, and seasoning in a bowl.
Add the chicken pieces to the egg mixture, and stir in the cornstarch to thicken the mixture.
Mix the sauce ingredients in another bowl and set aside until needed. Stir out any lumps.
Heat the oil in a wok (if deep frying, aim for 180°C or 350°F).
If deep frying, fry the pieces of battered chicken a few at a time until crispy (around 3 minutes). If shallow-frying, fry until the chicken is cooked and the batter is golden. Remove excess oil from the chicken pieces after frying.
After frying the chicken, empty and wipe clean the wok. Add 2 tbsp oil back to the wok, and return to the heat.
Fry the spring onions and chili peppers together for about 30 seconds.
Add the chicken pieces back to the wok, and stir fry with the vegetables until browned.
Stir sauce and add to wok. After the sauce comes to a boil, cook for about 1 minute or until sauce thickens. The exact time will depend partly on how much cornstarch you added.
Remove from heat and serve immediately.
