General Tso Chicken

Inspired by Hoy’s Wok - Los Angeles, CA

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Chinese food in America is one of those cuisines that looks vastly different than it’s authentic counterpart. I’ve grown to love genuine Cantonese and Szechuan dishes in more recent years but still have a soft spot for the Western versions we all know and love. There is probably no better example of Americanized Chinese food than General Tso Chicken. And don’t lie. You definitely enjoyed this at the mall food court growing up (does that make me old?) or during a quick work lunch when a deadline is looming. I took my inspiration from a quick stop during a work trip in Los Angeles. Give in to these bad habits with the homemade version which is absolutely fantastic.

INGREDIENTS

GENERAL TSO CHICKEN (makes 3-4 servings):

  • 1 ½ lbs boneless skinless thighs, cut into 1-2 inch cubes

  • 1 cup cornstarch

  • 1 large egg

  • ¼ cup soy sauce

  • ½ cup no sodium chicken stock

  • 1 TBS rice vinegar

  • 1 TBS Shaoxing wine

  • 2 TBS Apricot jam

  • 1 TBS tomato paste

  • Lots of canola oil

  • 1 TBS ginger, grated on microplane

  • 2 tsp garlic, grated on microplane

  • 8-10 chilie de arbol, seeded (optional)

  • Salt to taste

  • Green onion, sliced (for serving)

  • Toasted sesame seeds (for serving - optional)

  • Toasted sesame oil (for serving - optional)

  • Fresh rice (for serving)

GO FOR IT

GENERAL TSO CHICKEN:

  1. In a bowl, whisk together egg, ⅓ cup of cornstarch, 2 TBS soy sauce

  2. Add chicken cubes and combine until well coated, then let marinate for 15 to 30 minutes at room temperature

  3. In a separate bowl, whisk together chicken stock, 1 TBS cornstarch, rice vinegar, Shaoxing wine, apricot jam, tomato paste, 2 TBS soy sauce, ½ cup of cold water, then set aside this sauce mix for later

  4. Using a wok or large frying pan, heat 3 inches deep worth of oil to 375°F using high heat

  5. As oil heats, remove chicken from bowl, allowing excess liquid to drop off, then toss in remaining cornstarch (use more if needed)

  6. When oil is heated, fry chicken in batches (don’t overcrowd your pan or everything will stick together and get soggy - took me 2 batches)

  7. Fry chicken for 4 to 5 minutes per batch, then remove from pan to drain on a cooling rack or paper towel

  8. Discard all but 2 TBS of canola oil from pan then return to high heat

  9. Add in grated ginger and garlic and stir until fragrant (no more than 30 seconds), then add chilies and stir until lightly toasted (no more than 30 seconds)

  10. Add your sauce mix and cook until thickened, stirring frequently (should take about 8 to 10 minutes) then taste and add a pinch or 2 of salt if needed

  11. Add in chicken and toss to combine and continue cooking for 2 more minutes before removing from heat

  12. Drizzle a small amount of sesame oil on top of chicken if desired then top with sesame seeds and sliced green onions

  13. Serve General Tso Chicken alongside rice and enjoy

NOTES:

In my opinion, most of the bad Chinese takeout restaurants out there coat these with way too much breading and then your chicken gets soggy and can become less than enjoyable. Given this, I was pleased to find that most of the recipes I researched opted for not much breading at all. However, I still found the marinade/batter left the chicken a bit lacking in the crispiness department so I tossed my 2nd batch with some more corn starch and achieved crispy perfection. No need to overdo things with flour here. Some more starch is all you need here just as is the case with Korean Fried Wings.

You can make several substitutions based on what you have or don’t have. You can use white vinegar instead of rice vinegar if that’s all you have. You can use sherry instead of Shaoxing wine. You can even use a couple table spoons of sugar instead of apricot jam if you want but I thought he apricot added am amazing roundness to the sauce’s flavor.

The toasted sesame oil is a feature I picked up over at Sauver as they claimed it would help bring forward the sweetness in this sauce. I have to say I definitely agree with this suggestion. However, keep note that this will take away from the heat of your chilies so leave it out if that’s important to you or just add more chilies.