Home Savory General Tso’s Chicken

General Tso’s Chicken

Difficulté : Easy
Catégorie : Savory
Cout : Affordable

This very Chinese looking recipe, is however completely unknown in China. As surprising as it may seem, it comes from the United States… But it was invented by a Chinese immigrant, Mr. Peng Chang-Kuei. This does not prevent it from being very tasty. These are small chicken fritters, fried twice for a crispy texture, then fried in a sweet and sour sauce, spicy if desired. I enjoy it every time I order this dish there.

General Tso’s chicken recipe:

-4 chicken thighs
-120g of egg white
-130g of cornstarch
-1 tablespoon of oil
-2 teaspoons of clear soy sauce

General Tso’s sauce:
-250ml of chicken broth
-1+1/2 tablespoons of sugar 
-2 tablespoons of clear soy sauce
-1 tablespoon of hoisin sauce
-2 tablespoons of rice vinegar
-1 teaspoon of sesame oil
-2 pinches of pepper

For cooking the sauce:
-1 teaspoon cornstarch diluted in a little water

-1 or 2 cloves of garlic
-a piece of peeled fresh ginger
2-3 onion bunches or Chinese onions
-2 or 3 dried red peppers (optional)
-toasted sesame seeds

Prepare the chicken broth. In the United States, they sell ready-made broth in bricks. In France, I simply bought poultry broth powder that I diluted as indicated (1 teaspoon for 100ml of water). 
Add sugar. 

Soy sauce.

The hoisin sauce, as well as the rice vinegar. 

Also add pepper and sesame oil. 

Prepare the chicken. Do not use white meat, as this will result in dry and tasteless meat. De-bone and remove the skin. 

Cut each thigh into 4 pieces. 

Prepare the rest of the ingredients, the onions cut in 4cm slices, the ginger in small strips and the garlic in small pieces. 

Prepare the doughnut batter by putting the egg whites, soy sauce and oil in a bowl. 

Add the cornstarch. 

Mix well to obtain a viscous paste. 

Add the chicken.

Mix well. 

Heat a pan of oil over moderate to high heat. 

When the oil is ready, add half the chicken pieces, one by one. 

Let cook until they start to brown slightly. Cook the other half of the chicken. 


When all the chicken is cooked, return the oil to a fairly high heat. The oil must be hot. Return the chicken pieces to the oven until they are completely browned. The more golden they are, the longer they will stay crisp with the sauce. The top of the thigh is not afraid of prolonged cooking, so you can cook these little fritters really well.  

While the fritters are cooking, heat oil in a wok over high heat and fry the garlic and ginger. It is at this point that you should add the dried chili pepper if you wish. 

Add the onions and let them color. 

Add all the sauce. 

And let it boil and reduce. 

Then add the cornstarch diluted in a little water to thicken the sauce. 

Let it cook. 

Then add the chicken fritters when they are all golden brown. 
Bernard’s tip: you really have to cook the doughnuts so that they keep their texture crispy when they come into contact with the sauce. They must be cooked even more than on the photo below. You really need to put them in this sauce just before serving to enjoy them as soon as possible!

Coat the fritters well with sauce, sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and serve immediately with rice! 

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The end of year festivities are coming up, Christmas is almost here! I offer you a selection of festive recipes to delight your taste buds and your guests. Tarama, foie gras, logs, I give you all my secrets. There are in this selection, recent recipes and others that I have published for nearly 12 years, so the photos are not all equal! Just click on the recipes to access them!

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