General Tso's Chicken (Restaurant Quality)
"I can't wait to make this version of General Tso's Chicken. A detailed write-up and the recipe I found in the February/March 2008 publication of "Cooks Country" magazine. Note: In step 4, the fried chicken pieces can be held in 200 degree oven for up to 30 minutes before being added to the sauce (if held any longer, they will lose their crispness). If the sauce is too thick in step 5, whisk in 1 tablespoon of water before adding the crispy chicken. Note #2: Please note that the time's I've enter are guesstimations only and the marinading time is not included."
- Ready In:
- 45mins
- Ingredients:
- 16
- Serves:
-
4-6
ingredients
-
Marinade and Sauce
- 1⁄2 cup hoisin sauce
- 1⁄4 cup white vinegar
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 1⁄2 cups water
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1-1/2 pounds cut into 1-inch pieces)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons gingerroot, freshly grated
- 1⁄2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
-
Coating and Frying
- 3 large egg whites
- 1 1⁄2 cups cornstarch
- 1⁄2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
- 4 cups vegetable oil
directions
- For the marinade and sauce: Whisk hoisin, vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, cornstarchand water in bowl.
- Combine 6 tablespoons hoisin mixture and chicken in zipper-lock bag; refrigerate 30 minutes.
- Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat until shimmering.
- Cook garlic, ginger, and pepper flakes until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add 2 cups hoisin mixture and simmer, whisking constantly, until dark brown and thickened, about 2 minute.
- Cover and keep sauce warm.
- For coating and frying: Whisk egg whites in shallow dish until foamy.
- Combine cornstarch, flour, baking soda, and remaining hoisin mixture in second shallow dish until mixture resembles course meal.
- remove chicken from marinade and pat dry with aper towels.
- Toss half of the chicken with egg whites until well coated, then dredge chicken in cornstarch mixture, pressing to adhere.
- Transfer coated chicken to plate and repeat with remaining chicken.
- Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until oil registers 350 degrees.
- Fry half of the chicken until golden brown, about 3 minutes, turning each piece halfway through cooking.
- Transfer chicken to paper towel-lined plate.
- Return oil to 350 degrees and repeat with remaining chicken.
- To serve: Warm sauce over medium-low heat until simmering, about 1 minute.
- Add crispy chicken and toss to coat.
- Serving over rice or noodles would be awesome!
Questions & Replies
-
In the steps it says "Add 2 cups hoisin mixture and simmer, whisking constantly, until dark brown and thickened, about 2 minute." How is there 2 cups? In the ingredients there is only 1/2 c hoisin plus 1/4 c vinegar and 3 Tb soy sauce. That's not even close to 2 cups.
Reviews
-
Thanks for posting, it saved me the work of doing it! I don't make this often, but it's a big hit whenever I do! -
Chicken was crispy, and all in all the sauce wasn't bad either, but I would call this a spicy ginger chicken, NOT general tso's. The sweetness and mild spiciness you'd wanna see with general tso's chicken is just not there, rather the ginger and soy are the big flavors in this dish. -
Make this today! You won't regret it. It was fairly easy and worth the little bit of extra effort. My children loved it. When I was making it, I thought it made way too much, but I didn't have any leftovers. I served with fried rice and egg rolls. DELICIOUS!
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Happy Hippie
Spring Valley, California
I live in beautiful San Diego where there's never nothin to do. We almost never have days where you can't get outdoors. For fun I love to read, cook, take road trips with my grandson, whom I raise. Take long walks along the beach, bays and lakes. My live in grandson is 12 and the light of my life. I've been teaching him to fish, or should I say I'm exposing him to lake fishing, the people we meet along the way are teaching him while I read and watch. He's dying to go ocean fishing, that one makes me a bit more nervous, but we'll start that soon, probably from piers to start. Nick's only one of my grandchildren though, I have a total of 13, three live in Kansas, the land of Oz. The last time I visited them, it was Christmas time and when I stepped off the plane, the cold air took my breath away and standing there waiting for me in a short-sleeved T-shirt, was my son-in-law. Needless, to say, I spent many days there staying indoors praying for the day I could get back to sunny California -- I never had to endure snow the whole time, thank God! Twenty degrees daily was way out of my comfort zone by a very large margin. There truly is no place like home. I have 8 other grandchildren that are fortunate enought to live in San Diego too. We spend weekends doing things together such as taking in the zoo, wild animal park, Sea World, Knotts Soak City water park (summer), museums, fishing, picknicking and just hanging out. They all love to help grandma cook in the kitchen. I have many cookbooks and can read them like I'd read a novel. My passions are my family, my two boston terriers, Tuffy and Oreo, and gardening, cooking and reading -- oh yeah, I'm totally addicted to Zaar. I don't really have many pet peeves, but a biggie is mean, obnoxious people and those who think they know it all, and liars, I can pick out a deceitful person it an instant. If you can't trust someone, then nothings worth salvaging in the relationship. I hate those who disrespect the environment (no I'm not a tree hugger) but I do hate to see people litter and fail to do simple things such as picking up after themselves in the outdoors such as parks and beaches, and how easy is it to recycle? It's really not too difficult to make an impact on the environment if everybody takes responsibility for their "trash."
