Spicy General Tso's Chicken
A crispy, spicy General Tso’s chicken you can make in just 35 minutes for a delicious takeout style dinner at home.
Ingredients
- 2 cups steamed white rice
- Vegetable oil
Crispy Chicken
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce
- ½ tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 pound chicken breast sliced into 1.5 inch pieces
- ½ cup flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
General Tso's Sauce
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 1½ tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1½ tablespoons hoisin sauce
- ½ tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon chili oil
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 3 Tien Tsin peppers
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1½ teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- ¾ cup cold water
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Instructions
- First, make the chicken marinade. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Add the chicken and stir to coat, then marinate for 20 minutes at room temperature.
- In the meantime, prep the sauce. In a small bowl, whisk together brown sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar, hoisin, sesame oil, chili oil, and tomato paste to combine well and set aside.
- Once the chicken has marinated, combine the flour with salt and pepper in a medium bowl.Transfer the chicken to the flour, letting excess marinade drip off so you don't transfer too much of the liquid with it. Toss in the flour to coat well and set aside.
- In a deep cast iron frying pan, heat a quarter inch of vegetable oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the chicken and fry until crispy, about 7 to 8 minutes, turning over once or twice as it cooks. Drain the chicken on paper towels and set aside.
- Next, make the sauce. Add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil, minced garlic, minced ginger, crushed red pepper flakes, and the Tien Tsin peppers to a medium saucepan over medium-low heat and cook until fragrant and the oil has turned a lovely red color, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Add the sauce mixture to the saucepan and bring to a simmer. Stir to combine well.
- In the meantime, combine the cold water and cornstarch in a small bowl. Whisk very well until the cornstarch is completely dissolved.
- Once the sauce has come to a simmer and is well combined, add the cornstarch slurry into the saucepan while constantly stirring the sauce. Keeping the sauce moving will make sure the cornstarch slurry incorporates well, leading to a thick and glossy sauce.
- Bring the sauce back to a simmer while gently stirring, simmer for about 1 minute and then remove from heat.
- Finally, add the crispy chicken to the sauce and stir gently until well coated. Remove from heat and serve immediately with a side of steamed rice.
Notes
Tien Tsin peppers: Tien Tsin peppers are used in many different Chinese dishes to add spice and flavor. They are hotter than cayenne peppers but less hot than habaneros. If you want to add more spice to your dish you can either add more Tien Tsin peppers, crush them up to better incorporate them, or opt for a spicier pepper such as Thai chilis. If you want a milder General Tso’s chicken, then simply skip the Tien Tsin peppers all together.
While the chicken marinates: Use this time to start steaming the rice and also prepare your mise en place for the sauce ingredients! This step is incredibly helpful since the sauce cooks quickly.
Frying the chicken: If you need to fry the chicken in batches, add oil to the pan between batches as needed, maintaining about 1/4-inch of oil. You should aim to have only a single layer of chicken in the pan and no more.
Serving suggestions: A plate of General Tso's and steamed rice goes great with a side of homemade pork dumplings (try our recipe)!
Cooking tools: The deep side of our 2-in-1 Cuisinel cast iron is perfect for frying chicken. We recommend using a pan with high walls to prevent oil splatter.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 644kcal | Carbohydrates: 78g | Protein: 45g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 0.02g | Cholesterol: 159mg | Sodium: 2707mg | Potassium: 1059mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 24g | Vitamin A: 944IU | Vitamin C: 68mg | Calcium: 81mg | Iron: 4mg
