Cookbook:General Tso's Chicken

| Meat Recipes | China

General Tso's chicken (Mandarin: Zuo Zongtang ji in) is a popular battered-chicken recipe in Chinese-American restaurants, allegedly hailing from Hunan province in China. However, the stories of the recipes heritage involving Zuo Zongtang (General Tso) are probably apocryphal, and it is more likely to be a dish based on similar Hunanese recipes, invented to please the American diner. Nonetheless, it is tasty and easy to prepare.

While the dish is traditionally deep-fried, it tastes just as good when shallow-fried—a safer and easier option.

Chicken/Batter

 * 750 g (1.65 lb) raw chicken dark meat, boneless and skinless.
 * 1 egg
 * 1 tbsp light soy sauce
 * Seasoning to taste
 * 2–3 tbsp cornstarch, or as needed


 * 700 ml (3 cups) oil to deep fry, or enough oil to shallow-fry

Sauce

 * 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
 * 1 tbsp rice vinegar
 * 1 tbsp red Shaoxing rice wine
 * 1 tbsp sugar
 * 3 tbsp chicken stock or water
 * 1 tbsp finely-chopped ginger
 * 1 tbsp crushed and minced garlic
 * 1 tbsp cornstarch (to thicken sauce; optional)

Vegetables

 * 4 spring onions, chopped
 * 1 tbsp chopped dried chile peppers

Procedure

 * 1) Cut the chicken into 2 cm (¾ inch) cubes.
 * 2) Beat the egg, light soy sauce, and seasoning in a bowl.
 * 3) Add the chicken pieces to the egg mixture, and stir in the cornstarch to thicken the mixture.
 * 4) Mix the sauce ingredients in another bowl and set aside until needed. Stir out any lumps.
 * 5) Heat the oil in a wok (if deep frying, aim for 180°C or 350°F).
 * 6) If deep frying, fry the pieces of battered chicken a few at a time until crispy (around 3 minutes). If shallow-frying, fry until the chicken is cooked and the batter is golden. Remove excess oil from the chicken pieces after frying.
 * 7) After frying the chicken, empty and wipe clean the wok. Add 2 tbsp oil back to the wok, and return to the heat.
 * 8) Fry the spring onions and chili peppers together for about 30 seconds.
 * 9) Add the chicken pieces back to the wok, and stir fry with the vegetables until browned.
 * 10) Stir sauce and add to wok. After the sauce comes to a boil, cook for about 1 minute or until sauce thickens. The exact time will depend partly on how much cornstarch you added.
 * 11) Remove from heat and serve immediately.

Notes, tips, and variations

 * Dark meat is preferred, but you can also use white meat, or both!
 * Serve with steamed or fried rice.
 * You can substitute a dry sherry for the Shaoxing wine.
 * A small onion can be used instead of the spring onions.
 * Reduce or increase the chili peppers depending on your liking for spicy-hot foods.
 * The quantity of sauce can be increased according to preference.

Warnings

 * Use care in handling raw chicken. Wash hands and utensils that come into contact with raw chicken. Don't allow raw chicken or its juices to come into contact with other foods, unless they are to be cooked afterwards.
 * If deep-frying in a wok, be extremely careful with the hot oil. It can cause very severe burns or start a fire. Always keep a fire extinguisher handy, and make sure it is properly charged yearly.