General Tso’s Chicken is that perfect combination of sweet, savoury, spicy and tangy with crispy Chinese chicken bites. It’s a Chinese takeout favourite that just pushes all the right buttons!
General Tso’s Chicken
This is a popular Chinese-American dish that appears in suburban Chinese restaurants here in Australia under various other guises. Peking-Style Chicken or sometimes something mysteriously titled House Special Crispy Chicken. I can never resist a House Special!
It is said to originate from the Hunan province of China and is named after a well-respected Chinese military leader, General Tso.
While the accuracy of either of these statements is questionable – and in fact, rumour has it that it was brought into the US by Taiwanese Chefs (!) – what we do know is that this is one of the most popular Chinese dishes in America and it’s not hard to understand why.
Crispy chicken. Sticky, spicy, savoury sauce. All good stuff we like!
What goes in General Tso’s Chicken
There’s 3 parts to making General Tso’s Chicken:
Sauce/Marinade – one mixture does double duty to marinate the chicken AND to make the sticky sauce that coats the chicken;
Crispy Chicken – tossed in cornflour/cornstarch then fried in as little or as much oil as you want. No, you don’t need to deep fry for this dish; and
Stir Fry – it’s not really a stir fry dish, but we do sauté garlic and ginger at the end before making the sticky sauce to toss the chicken in.
1. Sauce / Marinade
Here’s what you need for the Sauce / Marinade:
Chilli – the spiciness in the sauce. I like using Sambal Oelak which is a type of chilli paste sold at everyday supermarkets in Australia but feel free to use your favourite brand (preferably Asian, if you can!);
Soy sauce – light or all purpose, just not dark soy sauce (way too strong flavour and will make sauce too dark). More on different soy sauces and when to use which sauce, here;
Rice vinegar – for the signature touch of tang in General Tso’s Chicken. It has a distinct flavour different to Western vinegars (it’s made from rice – did the name give it away? 😂) and it is less sour. Best sub: White wine vinegar;
Brown Sugar – for the sweet in the sauce with a slight caramel note. Not loads – just 3 tablespoons. Many other recipes use way too much. This is not a dessert, it’s a meal!
Hoisin sauce – the secret ingredient! Adds a hint of extra flavour that takes this recipe from ok to yummo!
Sesame oil – for a wonderful hint of sesame flavour;
Chicken stock – to give the sauce depth of flavour without using Chinese Cooking Wine (Shaoxing Wine) and to make enough sauce to coat all the chicken; and
Cornflour / cornstarch – to thicken the sauce as well as make it nicely shiny and clear (whereas wheat flour makes sauces more opaque, like with Gravy).
2. The Chicken
For the chicken, you will need two tablespoons of the Sauce we made above for marinating, as well as ginger and garlic for flavour.
Unlike other crispy Chinese fried chicken dishes, such as Honey Chicken, the chicken is not coated with a batter but instead is tossed in cornflour/cornstarch to make it crispy. It’s quite similar to the way crispy Sweet and Sour Pork is made – but simpler because chicken pieces are tender and easier to cook than pork.
Best chicken – boneless skinless thighs, because they stay nice and juicy even if you overcook them a bit (which is easy to do if you’re not an experienced fryer). If you want to use chicken breast or tenderloins, see recipe notes for how to tenderise it before cooking using a touch of baking soda/bi-carb. This technique offers some insurance against dry, overcooked breast notorious in recipes like this.
3. Making the Sauce
And here’s what you need to cook the Sauce – ginger, garlic and red pepper flakes (chilli flakes). These are sautéed until golden before adding the Sauce.
How to make it
Here’s how to make it:
Sauce/Marinade – first, mix the Sauce/Marinade. We do this in two parts. Firstly, mix all the ingredients except the sugar, chicken stock/broth and the cornflour/cornstarch, and use some of this initial mix to marinate the chicken (in Step 2 below). THEN mix in the sugar, stock and cornflour to the remainder to create the dish’s final Sauce – these are Sauce-specific ingredients we don’t want in the chicken marinade;
Marinate Chicken – Use 2 tablespoons of the initial Sauce mix to marinate the chicken for 30 minutes along with fresh garlic and ginger. It’s really nice to add fresh ginger and garlic into the marinade to really get those flavours into the chicken;
Coat chicken in cornflour – just add it into the bowl and mix, making sure the pieces are separate so they are fully coated;
Shake off excess cornflour using whatever method works for you – I use a colander these days. Not all the cornflour falls through the colander holes and that’s ok. It still gives me a means to shake out most of the excess and some chunks settled at the base. We don’t want a thick layer of cornflour on the chicken because it can make it taste powdery and also you end up with loads of cornflour in the oil which burns unless you scoop it out;
Cook chicken using preferred amount of oil – either shallow fry as I do (which is when the chicken is sitting on the base of the pan and the oil comes halfway up the chicken) or deep fry (which is when there is enough oil so the chicken floats around in the oil). You can even cook it with just a thin layer of oil in the pan but you’ll need to rotate each piece of chicken 4 to 6 times to get all sides crispy – which is a pain!
Drain on paper towels to remove excess oil.
Time to sauce it!
Chicken done, so next up: time to make the sauce. This part literally takes 3 minutes:
Sauté garlic, ginger and chilli flakes until garlic is golden and it smells amazing, then pour the sauce in;
Simmer sauce for 2 minutes until it thickens enough so you can draw a path across the base;
Add chicken;
QUICKLY toss to coat then serve, stat! The faster you get it on the table, the crispier the chicken stays!
General Tso’s CRISPY FACTOR
Chicken cooked using this method (ie. coated in cornflour) will never be as crispy compared to a more involved batter method, such as with Honey Chicken which stays crispy for hours (and that is no exaggeration!).
But if you really want super-crispiness, just use the batter method in Honey Chicken and the sauce from General Tso’s Chicken!
What to serve with General Tso’s Chicken
Serve on you rice of choice with some greens on the side. For me, Ginger Smashed Cucumber Salad is just the sort of refreshing side I’d serve for a dish like this. Otherwise, any fresh salad, leafy greens or steamed greens with my reliable Asian Sesame Dressing.
For a larger banquet, try adding some extra dishes such as one of these:
Let me know when you’re planning that banquet and I’ll be there in a flash! 😂 – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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General Tso’s Chicken
Ingredients
Sauce/Chicken Marinade:
- 3 tbsp soy sauce – light or all-purpose (NOT dark soy, Note 1)
- 1 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar (sub white wine vinegar)
- 2 tsp chilli paste , any (Sambal Oelak is great)
- 1 tsp sesame oil toasted preferably (Note 6)
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp cornflour/cornstarch
- 3/4 cup chicken stock/broth , low sodium
Chicken:
- 600g/ 1.4 lb chicken thighs , boneless skinless, cut into 2.5cm / 1" pieces (breast / tenderloin – Note 2)
- 1 tsp ginger , finely grated
- 1 tsp garlic ,finely grated
- 1 cup cornflour/cornstarch (Note 5)
- 1 – 4 cups oil, for frying (peanut, vegetable or canola; Note 4)
Stir Fry Sauce:
- 2 tbsp oil (peanut, vegetable or canola)
- 2 tsp ginger , finely chopped (Note 3)
- 2 cloves garlic , finely chopped (Note 3)
- 1/2 teaspoon red chilli flakes (red pepper flakes)
Garnishes (at least 1 recommended):
- Finely sliced green onion
- Sesame seeds
Instructions
- Sauce-Marinade: Mix the soy, hoisin, vinegar, chilli and sesame oil.
- Marinate Chicken: Take out 2 tablespoons of Sauce-Marinade and mix with chicken. Add ginger and garlic to chicken, mix, then marinate 30 minutes.
- Dust chicken: Add cornflour into chicken and toss to coat, ensuring pieces are separated so they get fully coated.
- Shake off excess: Tip into a colander and shake to remove excess cornflour (or grab handfuls, shake so cornflour falls through your fingers).
- Finish Sauce: To the remaining Sauce-Marinade (that you made in Step 1), add sugar and cornflour. Mix, then add chicken stock and mix.
- Heat oil: Heat 2 cm / 4/5" oil in a deep skillet (or large pot – whatever you’re comfortable with) to 200°C/390°F. To use less, see Note 4.
- Fry: Cook chicken 3 minutes, turning halfway, until golden and crispy. Drain on paper towel lined plate.
- New / clean skillet: Discard oil, wipe skillet and return to heat. Or use another large skillet.
- Stir Fry Sauce: Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, ginger, chilli flakes, saute 30 seconds until garlic is light golden. Add Sauce, bring to simmer and stir occasionally until it thickens enough that you can draw a path across pan base.
- Toss! Add chicken, toss to coat quickly – the quicker you are, the crispier the chicken stays! Transfer to serving plate, garnish and serve immediately with your rice of choice.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
He couldn’t believe his eyes when he waddled into the kitchen to find a giant bag of dog food open on the floor…….!!
For those of you who know that I usually feed Dozer a raw food diet – these dog biscuits are special gastrointestinal friendly biscuits after this tummy problems a month or so ago. Just slowly transitioning him back to his normal diet!
Deeeelish! and pretty easy to put together – another plus!
Wahoo, that’s great to hear Sheryl!! N x
Hi Nagi, I wrote you earlier while in the middle of cooking. I wasn’t sure if I could substitute corn starch for Corn flour. In any event, I used corn meal with a little corn starch mixed in. The recipe came out great. The sauce was delicious. I will definitely make this again, but I will make more sauce. Absolutely loved it. I am going to post a link to your website to my FB page, where I post photos of a lot of my cooking. Thanks,
Hi Jonathan, cornstarch is the same thing as corn flour – just called something different depending on where you’re located. Corn meal on the other hand is different and the grain isn’t as fine as flour. N x
Made this last night and it was no less than incredibly good, I did have half a dozen green prawns which I added as a test and they actually turned out really well too
Yum!! Sounds great Tony! N x
Hi Nagi,
Another impressive recipe which I would like to try.
My one question is how hot and spicy is this, as I don’t do hot and spicy, or could I just drop the chili from the ingredients?
Hi John, It’s not overly spicy but you could always reduce the amount of chilli in it if you can’t do spice. N x
Thanks Nagi,
My wife is Asian so loves her hot and spicy, and when I try to cook something myself it’s always a very fine line between my taste and hers. 🙂
Oh lady you make my day with Dozer and some of the comments you give to people. I LOVE your sense of humor. SO RARE especially these days BE SAFE AND BE WELL> By the way the food is NUMBER ONE!!!!!!
Thanks so much Georgette!! 🥰
Hi Nagi,
Just wondering why you don’t use Chinese cooking wine in this recipe when you normally always add it to these type of recipes to give it that “authentic” taste (so many versions of this, and all delicious 😋). Would it be a good idea to add a dash to this?
Love the recipes, can’t wait to try this out!
Thanks!
Hi Bry, this is a Chinese-American dish, and while I use it in a lot of recipes, it’s not needed in this dish to achieve the authentic flavour. N x
You show “corn flour/cornstarch”. I took that to mean i could use either. Is that correct? If I need Corn flour could I use regular flour instead?
Hi Jonathan, it’s the same thing, just called something different depending on where you’re located 🙂 N x
Nagi, I’m a big fan of your recipes and they are always my no.1 search when it comes to cooking (and that is everyday!) I cannot thank you enough for your delicious recipes and this, tsao, an all time hit. Making it tonight!
Thanks so much Nora – I hope you love this one! N x
I am going to make it..sounds wonderful dish, as family loves it. Nagi I signed up but I do receive your mail but so far none of eBooks. Thank you.
I hope it’s a hit Meena! If you haven’t received the e-books, just shoot me an email and I can resend them to you, they occasionally get caught up in the spam filter! N x
Hi, Nagi. I love your site and recipes. I wish I had more time to keep up with them, but I am saving all of them for a “rainy day”.
I have a question. What do you think about adding dried orange peel (and maybe some orange juice) to this recipe? I know there is a fast-food Chinese chain that is famous for its Orange chicken, but I used to go to a restaurant in LA Chinatown that had something similar to this one, but with dried orange peel. It was my favorite dish. Any thoughts? Thanks.
Hi Ron, sounds like a completely different recipe – I do have an orange chicken that I’ll have to publish one day!! N x
Dozer’s behavior is exactly what my dog Daisy did after she was very sick and had to be cared for at the Vet’s for a couple of days. She wouldn’t let us out of her site and talk about clingy!!!!!
They just need comforting don’t they Mary, they are like children!! N x
Can I use the spice ginger or does it need to be fresh ginger in this recipe
Hi Isabel, I prefer fresh ginger in this recipe – you just can’t come close to that flavour with powdered ginger. N x
Hi Nagi, I’ve been a fan of your website for a couple of years now and your recipes are a hit in our household. I’m a retired butcher and as such enjoy the time I have available to me now to experiment with all things that are a little bit different when it comes to cooking.
I’m an Aussie bloke who has a wealth of knowledge about all things meat, especially the BBQ but a total failure when confronted with anything outside of my comfort zone. This is where you have helped and I’ve enjoyed the journey you have taken me on.
Just one question though regarding this recipe.
I’ve learnt, thanks to you, the value of cornflour especially in stir fries etc. but in this recipe there is a requirement for “1 cup” of cornflour for coating the chicken. This seems like a lot of cornflour for .600g of chicken. I’m sure I’m missing something and it’s just my age but if you could confirm this it would allay my concerns about this recipe which I would like to try.
Hi Alan – that’s a really good question and I added a note in the recipe about this. It’s because using this dump/mix/shake off excess method, you lose a fair amount of cornflour because it clumps due to the chicken juices and marinade so you need to ensure there is plenty to properly coat each piece of chicken all over. If you have the patience to dip then shake off each piece on by one, you could get away with 1/2 cup 🙂 Though to be fair, even with the mix/shake off method, you could probably get away with 3/4 cup. I just don’t want to be short – because the cornflour is what makes the chicken crispy! N x
Thanks, Nagi, tomorrow night’s dinner sorted.
sounds great I will start marinade and then take then head to my sister’s house and finish it there I was wondering if I marinade a little longer than 30 minutes what would happen; because it takes me about 40 minutes to get there.
That will be completely fine Alice – I hope you love it! N x
Oh, WOW, one of my faves! Could I adapt this for Ginger Beef and also Lemon Chicken with a few substitutions?
I’ll need to add those to my recipe list Viv!! N x
Oh Nagi, this looks dangerously addictive! And just when I decided to try and lose 5kg before the summer starts – not fair!! 😉
Make this and then eat air tomorrow Mike! 🙂 N x
Looks so good! Do you think you could use cauliflower to do a vegetarian alternative?
It would be something I’d need to test Emily – cauliflower would cook differently. You could use firm tofu though! N x
Looks great but I cannot find the Nutritional Values. I need these to save working them out. Am I missing something?
Thank you for the Nutritional Info Nagi! I will give it a go. Also thank you for the most detailed recipes, the video and the nutritional values – ideal for us on diets.
It’s all there in the usual spot PJ! N x
The values are at the end of the recipe notes.
Hi Nagi, it’s been aNagi weekend I was lucky enough to have my three boys four grandkids ranging from 15 to 22 months and three dogs we started with Malaysian curry satay and kept going you have new fans just seen General Taos chicken sorted for tomorrow you are amazing
What brand of hoisin sauce do you use?
Hi Tracey, this post should be of use https://promotown.info/asian-market-grocery-store-shopping-list/%3C/a%3E You’ll see all my preferred brands 🙂 N x
Wahoo, that’s great to hear Pippa!!! N x
I’m surprised his head wasn’t ‘in” the bag, or was it? 🙂 These look delicious too..Dozer comment always comes first – such a gorgeous boy.
It probably would have been if I left him alone with it!! 😂 N x