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The Ultimate General Tso’s Chicken Recipe

The Ultimate General Tso’s Chicken Recipe

This recipe is great to make for company as you can easily prepare both the chicken and sauce ahead of time and throw it together in a matter of minutes while entertaining.
By Jill Mant

Many moons ago I had three children in four and a half years. First I had my son Jordan, then almost exactly two years later Chelsea was born. Two and three quarters years after Chelsea, Jenna bounded into our lives.  To celebrate Jenna’s arrival a group of my close girlfriends got together and threw me a baby shower. It was a wonderful shower and because I had just had a boy and then a girl and I had all the baby stuff, in both blue and pink, that a girl could need my wonderful friends decided that they should get gifts for me. The gifts were amazing and they were highlighted by this poem:

There once was a bright girl named Jill

Who was always after a thrill

She’d never say “no”

But wouldn’t you know?

She’d never heard of the pill.

So gather dear friends and let’s toast

Our friend who is really ‘the most’

And after this spree

We all may agree

That it is really worth having three.

Your body’s been put to the test

And there’s never a time for a rest

And so you deserve

A massage of your curves

To get you feeling your best

(Here’s where they gave me the gift certificate for a massage!)

To help you get back on your feet

We must make sure that they’re really neat

With pumice they’ll smooth

And lotion they’ll soothe

And perhaps, they’ll even smell sweet

See Also

(Yes! I got a gift certificate for a Pedicure!)

We already know you can cook

For nine months, that’s what it took

But forget about lovin’

and “buns in the oven”

And take notes for your Chinese Cookbook

(I knew you wondered where I was going with this!)

For those of you who would like to see the rest of this hysterical poem please email me @ twogirls@saucycooks.com and I will send you the whole thing; it is wonderful. The motivation behind my reproducing this poem up to this point was to tell you the story about how I came to take the most incredible Chinese Cooking classes at a small shop in Avon, Ct. called Hsu’s Cookery.

Hsu was a short, round little woman who had grown up outside of Shanghai. She operated her little shop in this small New England town and sold woks, cleavers, skinners, Asian condiments, Noodles, frozen fish balls….anything that one might need to prepare Chinese food. And, she taught classes in her shop in the evenings to create a demand for her products! There were no Asian Supermarkets in the Hartford area at that time and Hsu owned the market.

I learned how to make so many fabulous Chinese recipes from Hsu. She instructed us on how to make Peking Duck which is to die for, although I never did follow her instructions about hanging the duck upside down from the ceiling of my kitchen with a fan below it for a day after marinading it. She taught us how to make a Chinese Firepot as a dinner party; an amazing Chinese take on Fondu done with an electric wok placed in the center of your table.  Or maybe Fondu was a take on the Chinese Firepot?

One of the best recipes I learned from Hsu was her version of General Tso’s Chicken.  Jenna is 26 now, with four kids of her own, so I have been making this dish for over a quarter of a century now.  I have yet to make it without rave reviews from my dining companions, including my children when they were growing up before two of them gave up eating meat.

It’s actually a great dish to make for company, as most of it can be made ahead of time. I often go so far as to cook the chicken about an hour before my guests arrive and let it sit, covered, on the kitchen counter until I cook the sauce. That way it is at room temperature when you add it to the wok with the sauce and you can just let it heat for about 3 minutes before serving. I also like to double the sauce recipe. I’m not sure if this is because it really needs it or due to gluttony!

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The BEST General Tso’s Chicken Recipe


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  • Author: Jill Mant~a SaucyCook
  • Total Time: 45 minutes
  • Yield: 4 1x

Description

This recipe is great to make for company as you can easily prepare both the chicken and sauce ahead of time and throw it together in a matter of minutes while entertaining. I guarantee that once you try this you will not make this recipe just once!


Ingredients

Scale
  • 6 Boneless and Skinless Chicken Thighs or 2 Whole Boneless and Skinless Chicken Breasts
  • 1015 Dry Hot Szechuan Chili Peppers
  • 35 cloves Garlic, minced
  • 3 slices Ginger Root
  • 2 stalks Scallion
  • 2 cups (500 ml) Peanut Oil (for deep frying)
  • To Make Seasoning Sauce A:
  • 2 Tbsp (30 ml) Soy Sauce
  • 3 Tbsp (45 ml) Tapioca Starch
  • 2 Tbsp (30 ml) Water
  • 1/2 tsp (2 ml) Baking Soda
  • 3 Tbsp (45 ml) Cooking Oil
  • To make Seasoning Sauce B:
  • 1 Tbsp (15 ml) Soy Sauce
  • 3 Tbsp (45 ml) Sugar
  • 1 Tbsp (15 ml) Duck Sauce or Plum Sauce
  • 1 Tbsp (15 ml) White Rice Wine
  • 1 Tbsp (15 ml) Sesame Oil
  • 1/2 tsp (2 ml) Tapioca Starch
  • 3 Tbsp Ginger Juice (45 ml) (instructions below)
  • pinch salt
  • 1/2 tsp (2 ml) White Rice Vinegar
  • pinch pepper

Instructions

  1. Pound the 3 slices of ginger root and the scallions with a mallet. Soak in 1/2 cup water to make the ginger juice. Set aside.
  2. Pound the chicken to make it thinner. Cut into bite size pieces.
  3. Marinade the chicken in Seasoning Sauce A for an hour or more. (Can marinade for a day or two if you would like.)
  4. In a small bowl blend Seasoning Sauce B. Set aside.
  5. Heat the oil in a wok over high heat until it reaches 400 F.
  6. Fry the chicken pieces for about 3 minutes until very crispy and golden brown. Drain on paper towels and set aside.
  7. Remove all of the oil but about 1 Tbsp and heat over medium heat. Brown the garlic and the Szechuan Peppers.
  8. Add Seasoning Sauce B and cook for 2 minutes until sauce has thickened.
  9. Add the chicken to the sauce and toss to coat and warm. About 2-3 minutes.
  • Prep Time: 30 mins
  • Cook Time: 15 mins
General Tso's Chicken deep frying in Wok
Remove chicken from wok and drain on paper towels. May be made ahead to this point for easy entertaining!
View Comments (4)
  • General Tso’s was one of my favorites growing up but I haven’t had it in years and I’ve never tried making it at home. Thanks for the recipe…I’ll definitely be bookmarking this one!

    • You’re quite welcome Kelsey; I do hope you try it as I am sure you will enjoy it. Please visit our website for more Chinese New Years recipes. We will be posting one each day all week~some traditional like this one and some more contemporary/fusion. Cheers!

    • You will definitely want rice to soak up the delicious sauce. As for a vegetable a stir fry of Bok Choy, Shredded Carrot and Chinese Broccoli cooked in fresh ginger, scallions and garlic and finished with a dash of sesame oil, soy sauce and rice wine vinegar would be lovely. I actually served mine with a Green Papaya Salad (yes, I know this is Thai but the flavors blend so well) which will be published to SaucyCooks.com this week! Bon Apetit!

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