The all important key to a tasty General Tso's Chicken is the SAUCE recipe! I'll show you a really tasty way to make General Tso's including how to make your chicken extra crispy. Like many Chinese takeaway dishes, General Tso's is easy to make and better than Chinese takeout.
Everyone knows General Tso's Chicken even though he (or she) is not a real person. My best guess is this famous Chinese takeout fast food was invented to go head to head with Colonel Sanders, of KFC fame, who's a real person though the military rank is fake.
I've looked around and done some research on the best recipe I could find, coupled with my experience eating General Tso's growing up in NYC.
Here's what I came up with!
Ingredients:
Serves 2 to 3
250 grams chicken thigh with skin on
2 teaspoons light soy sauce
2 tablespoons Chinese cooking wine (can substitute with sherry)
2 teaspoons pure sesame oil
2 dash ground white pepper
1 egg yolk
*1 cup all purpose flour
*1 cup cornflour (a.k.a. cornstarch)
*2 teaspoon salt
*½ cup flour and ½ cup cornflour will be fine also. I'm in the school of more is better. Remember to use 1 teaspoon salt if using half flour and cornflour.
Combine chicken thighs with light soy sauce, cooking wine, sesame oil, white pepper and egg yolk. Mix with hand for a few minutes.
Add all purpose flour and cornflour into a shallow pan. Add a few chicken pieces at a time and coat each piece. Each piece should feel dry.
This is optional you might want to put the coated chicken on a sieve to shake off excess flour. Otherwise just use your hands to shake off as best as you can.
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General Tso's Chicken Sauce:
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup honey
3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar (can substitute with white vinegar)
2 tablespoons Chinese cooking wine (can substitute with sherry)
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
2 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
Add all the above ingredients in a cup or bowl, stir and mix well.
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Cornflour slurry:
1 tablespoon cornflour
3 tablespoon water
Mix these two ingredients well in a small bowl.
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Aromatics:
5 dried chili
4 cloves garlic roughly chopped
1 inch fresh ginger (for grating into pan)
1 green scallion roughly chopped
Sesame seeds (optional)
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Cooking Directions:
Fill a pan or wok with enough oil to cover the chicken pieces for frying. Heat oil to 375°F (191°C).
Then fry chicken until golden in color. Should take about 4 to 5 minutes depending on the amount of chicken you place inside pan or wok.
When all pieces are fried, heat the oil back up to 375°F (191°C) for a second fry. This will ensure your chicken is extra crispy.
Fry until the chicken becomes one shade darker, at least a few minutes. Then remove chicken and place on a wire rack or plate lined with paper towel.
Time to make the sauce.
First add a tablespoon of oil to a pan on medium low heat. Add garlic and dried chili. Grate in the fresh ginger. Continue cooking for a few minutes. Turn the heat up to medium high heat and pour in General Tso's sauce mixture. Continue stirring and the liquid should bubble and reduce slightly. Don't let it reduce too much.
Lower the heat if you see it reduce too fast.
Add a tablespoon of the cornflour slurry a few at a time until you see the sauce become thick and sticky. Then throw in the fried chicken and get all the pieces nice and coated. It may look like there's not a lot of sauce but that's because it's very sticky. Keep mixing, it'll get coated.
When all the chicken is covered lower the heat and throw in the scallions and continue mixing for 30 seconds.
Switch off the fire and get the rice ready! It's time to eat!
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