General Tso Chicken is a delicious Chinese stir fry recipe with crispy chicken tossed in a slightly sweet, savory and tangy vinegar sauce
Being the only female in a house full of males and teenagers makes life interesting.
For starters, since I am the shortest and smallest person in my family, they think for some reason that this means that I need to eat much smaller portions than all of the rest of them. Okay, it might be true that I really do need less caloric intake than the rest of my family but it should also mean that at least I get a little portion of dinner.
Last nights dinner event broke the last straw of motherly patience and perseverance. I made a delicious entrée of General Tso Chicken and rice. General Tso Chicken is a quick and easy delicious Chinese chicken stir fry. General Tso Chicken starts with crispy flavorful seasoned fried chicken that has a crunchy crust but is moist and juicy on the inside. The fried chicken is then glazed with a gorgeous sweet, savory, and tangy vinegar sauce that will have you going back for seconds and third helping. I even added a little chili in mine to give it just a touch of zip.
On record...Boys: 3 helping each, Mom: 0 helpings. At this rate, I am going to be loosing weight fast.
I have learned my lesson the hard way. If you have teenagers at home, do not bring the dishes to the table before you are seated along with them. I repeat do not bring the food to the table unattended with hungry teenagers. If you think for some strange reason, you need to bring the food to the table before you can actually sit down to be seated, make sure you take off your portion and leave your portion in the kitchen hidden in a very safe place. I repeat, do not leave your food portion unattended!!!!
There is a vast array of restaurants here in Hong Kong but of course the only food here that is worth a mention is the local cuisine. My boys always have loved General Tso Chicken in the restaurants and I decided to give it a spin in our kitchen. I knew that I wanted to use the concept of frying the chicken twice as believe it or not it leaves the chicken less oily and more crispy. I wanted to find a way to decrease the processed sugars and use more natural sweeteners. In addition, I wanted to accent the flavors of savory, spicy, sweet and sour in a perfect balance in a delightful sauce. I think the experimentation was a success as my teenagers did not even leave me a scrap, not even a morsel.
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General Tso Chicken
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds chicken breasts
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
or tamari sauce - 1 tablespoon rice wine
Shao Xing Rice Wine - 1 egg
beaten - ½ cup cornstarch
- oil for frying
Sauce
- ¼ cup chicken broth
- ¼ cup soy sauce or tamari
- 3 tablespoon rice wine Shao Xing Rice Wine
- ¼ cup honey
- 1.5 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 6 tablespoon water
- ½ teaspoon garlic minced
- 1-2 chilis
if desired - optional - 2 green onions
chopped for garnish - optional
Instructions
- In a bowl combine soy sauce, sherry and egg and chicken and coat well.
- In a plastic sealable bag, place your cornstarch and a few coated chicken pieces at a time and shake until well coated in cornstarch. Remove the chicken pieces from the bag and shake off the excess cornstarch and set on a wire rack or in dish to rest for about 30 minutes to one hour. (This step of marinating in sauces and cornstarch really makes the chicken tasty and crispy)
- Make your sauce: In a bowl combine chicken broth, soy sauce, sherry, honey, rice vinegar and stir until combined. In a small bowl slowly combine cornstarch and water until dissolved and add to the rest of the remaining sauce liquid and stir until well incorporated. Set aside.
- Fry the Chicken: Heat the oil in a small pot to about 350 degrees.(If you submerge your chopsticks in the oil they will bubble around them) Use enough oil to cover the chicken pieces when frying. In small batches without crowding, deep-fry the chicken pieces until the coating sets, about 30 seconds. Remove the chicken and wait 30 seconds. Return the chicken to the oil and cook until golden, about another 2-4 minutes until crispy and brown. Remove the chicken from the oil with a strainer and place on a plate. Repeat process with the remaining chicken pieces. I placed my cooked chicken in the oven to keep warm while I fried the remaining pieces and made the sauce.
- Putting it all together: Place about a teaspoon of oil in your wok and heat up. Add chili and garlic and fry until aromatic. Add the sauce mixture and bring to a boil until thickens into a rich and delicious sauce. quickly add the fried chicken and green onions and just stir until chicken is well coated. Remove from wok to a serving platter.
- Serve delicious General Tso Chicken with rice and make sure you take your helping out before you bring it to the dinner table to your hungry family.
Hannah (BitterSweet) says
Despite being such a classic, I've never actually had General Tso's anything. It's so hard to pick between recipes since they're about a dime a dozen on the internet and so few can be vouched for. I'm so excited to get your formula, because I trust your skill and judgement! Swap out the chicken for tofu and I'm good to go. 🙂
Healthy World Cuisine says
Hannah, thank you for your kind words. You can easily swap put the chicken and replace with firm tofu. It is quite nice. Take Care, BAM
Karista says
Bam this is one of my favorite dishes to order out! Love this recipe and no doubt my hungry crew would also love it. I may not have a family of growing boys, but my girls can put away the food! LOL!
petit4chocolatier says
I am laughing out loud here! Don't bring the food to the table before you are seated with the teenagers is so true!! Especially if they have friends over. Your tso chicken looks delicious!
Healthy World Cuisine says
You are so right! I just shutter when I get a last minute call that one of my boys are bringing home some of their friends after rugby practice. Do you know how much food teenage boys can pack away??? The worst of it is as we do not have a car here in Asia, I have to carry or wheel everything we eat from the market back home... I think I need to purchase a second grandma cart. LOL Have a great weekend. BAM
erika says
Wow I can't believe you made that at home! That definitely looks restaurant quality with that thick glaze...mmmm! I want to try this with some tofu!
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thank you Erika. This dish is fantastic with firm tofu. I have tried it that way before too. Have a super weekend. BAM
erika says
Good to know! You have a great weekend too!
Heather @ SugarDish(Me) says
I love this recipe, but I have the same problem you do... making General Tso's chicken in this house is tantamount to standing over the frying pan until the boys have consumed a total of 42 chickens and passed out in a food coma. This looks great!
Healthy World Cuisine says
Teenagers are bottomless pits. I hope I can make it through this growing stage in their life. I know everyone at the grocery store on a first name basis and I have been chained to the stove for weeks. Have a great day. BAM
nancyc says
Yum! The chicken sounds wonderful...wish there would have been some left for you! 🙂
gwynnem says
Bam, I feel your pain. After all that hard work making delicious food, the least you should be able to do is get a few bites. Do you think I could make a vegetarian-friendly version of this? Wondering if I could bread tofu instead for the chicken.
Healthy World Cuisine says
Absolutley! Firm tofu that is prepared the same way as the chicken and is deep fried is beautiful in this dish. I have made it before with tofu and it was quite nice. Take Care, BAM
Geni - Sweet and Crumby says
You made me laugh out loud Bam...oh my...you poor baby. I would have lost it if after making such a nice dinner there was none for me. This looks fantastic...and I think you need to make some while their at school and just be finishing up the LAST BITE as they walk in the door! 😉
Healthy World Cuisine says
Brilliant idea Geni! They are really are sweet kids but they are going through a huge growth spurt and it is exhausting keeping food on the table. Take Care, BAM
dianeskitchentable says
Say, thank you for taking the mystery out of this dish - it's one of my husband's favorites (and no, he would not dare eat it all...but I'm laughing because your advice about teenage boys is the same that I give owners of big dogs who have no remorse whatsoever). Some great tips in here, love it.
Healthy World Cuisine says
I know they even try to act innocent about the whole thing. They make silly remarks like, "We thought you already ate." "I thought this was just my portion" "Mom, I'm sorry I just ate the family roast, but I was starving" The list goes on and on... Take Care, BAM
Nami | Just One Cookbook says
Lately I realized that too! I sometimes eat some pieces while cooking to make sure I get to eat some before whole batch is eaten! And I don't have teenagers yet! Delicious recipe and I should make this soon. I order it at restaurant sometimes but never made it at home. Thanks for sharing Bam! Arigato!
Healthy World Cuisine says
Do Itashimashita Nami-san. I also really need to do more than just testing for flavor while cooking. I need to just make myself a big plate. I know your children are still small but it happens before you know, it is that growing stage. So please remember my warning, "Do not leave food unattended in a room of teenagers."
under the skies of arkansas says
mmmmmmmmmmmm chicken
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thanks for stopping by. Take Care, BAM
under the skies of arkansas says
makes me wonder what you can do with turkey
cravesadventure says
Yummy - give me a fork! Have a Great One!
Healthy World Cuisine says
How are you with a set of chopsticks?
yummychunklet says
Delicious looking sauce!
Healthy World Cuisine says
Nice and thick just like in the restaurant. I like when the sauce clings to the chicken.
sweetsimplestuff says
You have my sympathy ... as the mother of 3 sons (now adults) and wife (like having a 4th boy) ... I understand what you are going thru. On the upside ... I was able to stop using a step stool to reach items on the top shelf ... I would just ask one the boys to reach for me ... they would laugh at me, but do the reaching!
Healthy World Cuisine says
Yes that is a plus of having teenagers as they are like having a built in ladder in your kitchen. However, the downside of that is my upper cupboards are where I hoard all my secret snacks and we can't let them know about that. Shhhh... I hope they don't read my comments. That is our little secret. Take care, BAM
sweetsimplestuff says
I can keep a secret 😉 Try hiding the snacks behind vegetables in freezer or wherever ... they never look at the vegetables!
Healthy World Cuisine says
Good thinking Geni... I will start hiding my snacks under the broccoli... and spinach.
Jeno @ Week Nite Meals says
Bam your posting cracked me up! I don't have teenage boys at home, though my little 9 year old girl has been battling me when it comes to food since she can eat solids. Most kids her age are picky eaters, though my little girl has gone to all kinds of restaurants since she's little, and her taste buds are so well developed, when it comes to meal time, I have to cut her off at some point before she stuffs herself!
Healthy World Cuisine says
Jeno, you also make me laugh... I think your international cuisine has really broadened her horizons. Take care, BAM