General Tso’s chicken, is, apparently, one of the most popular Chinese takeout dishes in the US, consistently making the number one spot in many polls and reports, like this one done by NBC News. It is a delicious combination of lightly battered chicken in a sweet and tangy sauce laced with chilli.
Purportedly named after General Zuo Zongtang, a 19th century Chinese general, General Tso’s chicken is said to be from Hunan in China. You will, however, be hard pressed to actually find this dish in Hunan, or any proof that it was named after said general. For one thing, folks in Hunan will tell you that it is too sweet, and nothing like the dry and spicy dishes of the Hunan province.
According to Fuchsia Dunlop, in her The Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook, the dish was created by Peng Chang-kuei, a Chinese chef, who fled to Taiwan after the civil war, then to New York in 1973. Peng’s original Hunanese General Tso’s chicken was nothing like what it is today; it was hot, sour and salty. Recognising the need to cater to his American customers, Peng altered the recipe by sweetening it and cutting back on the chilli. This became such a huge hit that it has long been an American favourite and is widely regraded to be an American Chinese recipe, much like Egg Rolls. How can it not be, when Henry Kissinger was supposed to have been a big fan?
There is a certain irony linked to the General Tso’s chicken legend. As a nod to perhaps Peng’s Hunanese roots, Chinese chefs have, for a decade or so now, started to include this dish as part of Hunanese cuisine, even if it doesn’t, in any way, resemble Hunanese flavours.
Here, I’m sharing with you, my recipe for General Tso’s chicken, the way I teach it in my classes.
How to Cook General Tso’s Chicken?
There are, a few steps to the recipe. I’m writing them out here, the way I do in my class, so you get a clear idea of what you have to do:
- Mix the ingredients for the wet marinade, the dry coat and the sauce, and set all 3 aside
- Marinate the chicken in the wet marinade
- Coat the chicken in the dry flour mix and fry the chicken
- Make the sauce and add the chicken
Sounds easy when broken up in steps, doesn’t it?
- Wet Marinade
- Chicken in Flour
- Battered Chicken
- The Sauce
The whole process is pretty straightforward. When you’ve made it once, you can play around with the sauce to your heart’s content, to make it spicier, more or less sweet and increase or decrease the tang.
General Tso’s Chicken Ingredients
The Chicken
While we all go for chicken breast because it is a leaner meat and quick to cook, chicken thighs are your better option here. Let’s face it, with that frying, this is no diet food. So go with thigh meat, as it is more flavoursome and doesn’t dry out with the 3-minute of frying. Chicken thigh meat, off the bone, cut in bite size pieces, is very quick to cook.
Alcohol in the Marinade
I love adding a little bit of vodka when making batter or pastry. It increases the amount of liquid in your batter/pastry, without making it too tough as part of that liquid is alcohol, which will cook off to some extent. The result is a lighter batter/pastry. But that’s a matter of preference, and I’ve listed the alcohol as optional.
Egg White in the Marinade
Egg white in the marinade allows the dry coat to cling better and also adds to the crunch. However, as my girls, are allergic to eggs, I always do a separate portion of eggless General Tso’s Chicken by omitting it in the wet marinade. It’s still delicious.
Baking Powder in the Dry Coat
It does create a lighter batter, but in my opinion, not necessary because that lightness is completely lost once that batter takes on the sauce. Kind of also the reason why you can skip the alcohol in the wet marinade too!
Soy Sauce
We use 2 types of soy sauces in this recipe: light and dark. To read up more on soy sauces and the different varieties, go to the page on Soy Sauce.
General Tso’s Chicken Sauce
It contains ingredients to create a sweet and sour sauce, with a hint of heat. When I cook sweet and sour dishes, I always add some tomato ketchup to it. It’s a trick I learnt from my mum as well as my grandma. My granny used to also add some tomato ketchup to curries as a flavour enhancer, a trick I’ve copied. So you’ll find tomato ketchup in the sauce for this recipe. Together with the vinegar, you get an amazing level of tang.
Now, let’s get cooking!
Are you a fan of Chinese food, and especially General Tso’s chicken?
Lin xx
If you fancy more Chinese recipes, head on over to the Chinese page, as well as the Singapore and Malaysia page for goodies like:
- Beef in Orange Sauce
- Sichuan Chicken
- Homemade Chinese Meatballs
- Singapore Hor Fun
- Saliva Chicken, a Spicy Sichuan Dish
General Tso's Chicken, with its battered chicken in a sweet and sour sauce, laced with chilli, is apparently, America's favourite Chinese takeout dish.
General Tso’s Chicken, America’s Most Popular Chinese Takeout Dish
Ingredients
Instructions
Nutrition information
This is fantastic! Bookmarked for Sunday!
Thanks, how did it go?
Yum! This looks delish! This is one of my favorite things to order and now I have a great recipe to make it at home!
Thank you!
your tip about adding vodka to the batter is fab – this is something I’ve got to try
Thanks Rita.
Lovin’ this takeout dish. Wish my hubbie would cook this for me.
Haha, make him!
Another nice recipe. How do you do it?
Lol, that’s so funny!
This is awesome, my favourite Chinese dish! I’ve saved the recipe to make soon. Thanks for breaking down the recipe into steps. Very helpful!
Thank you Bethany, I hope you enjoy it.
Thank you very much for this recipe. It is my favourite takeout dish, and I am planning to make it this weekend. Have printed the recipe and stuck it on the board in the kitchen!
Awesome. Looking forward to the feedback.