A delicious Chicken recipe, General Tso’s Chicken has both, sweet and spicy flavors and is one of the most popular Chinese Takeouts. Make it at home using my easy recipe.
Here are some more Chicken Recipes, that you can make for your weekend brunch – Hunan Chicken, Best Indo Chinese Chilli Chicken, Asian Chicken Meatballs, Chilli Garlic Chicken, and Asian Mango Chicken.
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About This Recipe
General Tso’s Chicken is one of the most popular dishes when it comes to American Chinese takeouts. Slightly sweet and a bit spicy with the gist of garlic and ginger, this one will surely satisfy your taste buds to the T.
And if you are a fan of American Chinese like me, you have to try this one! You will definitely find this dish in most of the North American Chinese restaurants and because of its impeccable taste, it’s growing popular all over the world.
Fried Chicken coated in a sweet-spicy sauce, that will become your instant favorite once you take a bite. Serve it as a starter or on the side with some rice, this tastes great both the ways.
This Chicken is very similar to Sesame Chicken, but the sauce in this one is spicier and has more heat than the sesame one.
Also if you make it at home, it will have half the calories if compared to the takeout one.
Sometimes, the recipe of Tso’s Chicken get very difficult, as the breading steps takes too much time, but here we are using a simple combination of all purpose flour and corn flour to coat the Chicken.
This General Tso’s Chicken is,
- Spicy
- Crispy
- Slightly Sweet
- Delicious
- A Popular Chinese Takeout
- Perfect for your Brunch
Ingredients
There are 4 stages in the making this delicious General Tso’s Chicken. Here are the ingredients you will need for each of them:
Marinade – First comes the marination! This will help Chicken soak all the amazing flavors. For this, we will need – Egg White, Soy Sauce, Vodka, Corn Flour, Rice Vinegar, and Baking Soda.
Vodka helps in making the chicken crispier after frying, try this tick.
We will keep the chicken for marination for about 30 minutes. You can keep it for longer if you want.
Coating – Now once we are done with the marination, we will coat it with some dry ingredients, so that chicken has a crispy outer layer. For this, we will need – All Purpose Flour, Corn Flour, Baking Soda, and Salt.
Sauce – Now, the Fried Chicken is coated with a spicy-sweet sauce which is made with the combination of Hoisin Sauce, Rice Vinegar, Dark Soy Sauce, Brown Sugar, Corn Flour and Chicken Stock.
The hoisin sauce adds a lot of flavour into this dish and is probably one of my favourite sauces when it comes to Asian cooking. It adds a dept of flavour and sometimes also known as Asian BBQ Sauce. You will know the difference it makes once you taste a dish with it.
Assembling – Lastly, we will assemble everything! We will add a little more ingredients while assembling to give it more flavor. For this, we will need, Sesame Oil, Garlic, Ginger, Red Chillies, Oil, Roasted Peanuts and Spring Onion Greens.
You can also sprinkle some white roasted sesame seeds, because presentation matters. Right?
Step By Step Recipe
Add all the ingredients for the marinade in a bowl and mix nicely.
Add the chicken pieces in the marinade and keep aside for 30 minutes.
Mix all the ingredients for the dry coating in a bowl.
Take out the chicken pieces from the marinade and coat them in the dry mixture.
Shake them a bit to get rid of the excess dry coating and drop in the hot oil.
Heat oil for frying in a pan.
Fry till golden brown and crisp.
Keep the fried chicken aside.
Combine the ingredients for sauce in a pan and cook for 3-4 minutes till it slightly thickens and browned. ( Approx 3-4 minutes )
Heat sesame oil in a wok.
Add garlic, ginger and red chilies and cook for a few seconds.
Add the fried chicken and sauce and stir well.
Garnish with green onions and roasted peanuts. Serve hot with steamed rice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Both dishes, General Tso’s Chicken and Orange Chicken are very similar. Both the recipes use Chicken, which is marinated, coated, deep-fried, and then added into a sweet sauce.
But there is one difference in both the recipes. While the General Tso’s Chicken is Chilli based, Orange Chicken is orange based. And therefore, there is a slight difference in the taste of both the dishes.
Sesame Chicken is another popular American Chinese favorite, but it is more towards salty flavor with a slight hint of sweetness and has a lot of sesame seeds on top, whereas on the other side General Tso’s Chicken has a sweet sauce with lot more heat.
And therefore the sauce which is used to coat the Chicken in General Tso is dark red, whereas the sauce used for Sesame Chicken is brown.
Yes, you can also use Chicken Thighs instead of Boneless Chicken. Chicken Thighs are juicy and will absorb the flavors really nicely.
I will not suggest you make it ahead of time and keep, as the fried Chicken Pieces will lose its crispiness with time. If you want the Chicken Pieces to be crispy, make it fresh while serving.
Serving Suggestions
It is popularly served along with sautéed Broccoli florets and Carrots. But I like to serve General Tso’s Chicken with some Steamed Rice for my meals.
You can even serve it as a side dish for your weekend Brunch with some more Chinese recipes such as Dimsum, Chinese Gravies, Fried Rice, or Noodles.
You can even add it to your Lettuce cups and serve as a starter.
Stuff it inside your Burritos, Wraps, and give it a nice fusion twist.
Storage Suggestions
General Tso’s Chicken lasts for about 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator, when stored properly in an airtight container.
If you want to increase the shelve life further, you can freeze the same. Let it cool down properly, and then freeze it for about a month in sealed airtight containers or heavy-duty freezer bags.
Recipe Card
General Tso’s Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 500 gram Boneless Chicken (cut into bite size pieces)
For the marinade:
- 2 Egg White
- 1 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 1 tbsp Vodka
- 1 tbsp Corn Flour
- 1 tbsp Rice Vinegar
- ¼ tsp Baking Soda
For dry coating:
- ¼ cup All Purpose Flour
- ¼ cup Corn Flour
- ¼ tsp Baking Soda
- ½ tsp Salt
For the sauce:
- ¼ cup Hoisin Sauce
- 2 tbsp Rice Vinegar
- 2 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
- 2 tbsp Brown Sugar
- 1 tbsp Corn Flour
- 1-½ cup Chicken Stock
For assembling:
- 1 tbsp Sesame Oil
- 1 tbsp Garlic (minced)
- 1 tbsp Ginger (finely chopped)
- 3-4 Red Chillies (chopped)
- Oil (for frying)
- 1 tbsp Roasted Peanuts (crushed)
- 1 tbsp Spring Onion Greens (chopped)
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients for the marination in a bowl and mix nicely.
- Add the chicken pieces in the marinade and keep aside for 30 minutes.
- Mix all the ingredients for the dry coating in a bowl.
- Heat oil for frying in a pan.
- Take out the chicken pieces from the marinade and coat them in the dry mixture.
- Shake them a bit to get rid of the excess dry coating and drop in the hot oil.
- Fry till golden brown and crisp.
- Keep the fried chicken aside.
- Combine the ingredients for sauce in a pan and cook for 3-4 minutes till it slightly thickens and browned.( Approximately 3-4 minutes )
- Heat sesame oil in a wok.
- Add garlic, ginger and red chilies and cook for a few seconds.
- Add the fried chicken and sauce and stir well.
- Garnish with green onions and roasted peanuts.
- Serve hot with Steamed Rice.
Robert Swanner
Scrolling through your website. Found many great recipes I am going to try
Neha Mathur
Thanks. Do try and leave your feedback 🙂
Barb C
I currently find myself without a stove. What is that hot plate you’re using? I’m assuming it is a good one, but I’m having a hard time finding one that has any longevity. I really want to try some of your recipes and need a burner! Thanks in advance.
Neha Mathur
Hi Barb, I live in Indian and this is the one locally available here. You can try out my recipes on any hot place or induction that you have.