General Tso's Chicken

4.92 from 100 votes

Everyone’s tried General Tso’s Chicken—deep-fried chicken pieces in a sweet, subtly spicy sauce with crunchy broccoli. We’ve perfected our recipe after many years in Chinese restaurant kitchens.

Prep Time20

Cook Time25

Total Time45

Course: Chicken and Poultry

Cuisine: Chinese

Servings:

Calories: 513kcal

Author: Bill

Ingredients

FOR THE CHICKEN:

1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs (450g, cut into 1-inch pieces)
1 teaspoon Shaoxing wine
1 tablespoon water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch

FOR THE GENERAL TSO SAUCE:

1/3 cup low sodium chicken stock
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce (or seasoned soy sauce)
3 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar

TO COMPLETE THE DISH:

3 cups broccoli florets (about 8 ounces/225g)
4 cups peanut oil (for frying, plus 1 tablespoon; can substitute canola or vegetable oil)
5-6 dried red chili peppers
2 cloves garlic (minced)
2 teaspoons Shaoxing wine
2 tablespoons cornstarch (mixed into a slurry with 2 tablespoons water)

Instructions

Marinate the chicken pieces in a bowl with the Shaoxing wine, water, salt, white pepper, and sesame oil. Mix until the chicken absorbs all the liquid. Next, add the toasted sesame seeds, all-purpose flour and cornstarch. Stir to coat, and set aside.
Make the sauce mixture by combining the low-sodium chicken stock, dark soy sauce, regular soy sauce, brown sugar and rice wine vinegar in a bowl or measuring cup. Set aside.
In a wok or pot, boil 6 cups water, and blanch the broccoli for 30 seconds to a minute, depending on whether you like your broccoli soft or crunchy. Drain in a colander and set aside. To keep it super green, you can also transfer them to an ice bath, and then drain and set aside.
Heat the frying oil in a small but deep pot to 335 degrees F/170 degrees C. Carefully drop the chicken pieces into the oil in small batches. Make sure the batter/sesame seeds have really coated all sides of the chicken before frying. The chicken should float at the top of the oil. Fry until light golden brown (about 5 minutes) and transfer to a wire rack or plate lined with paper towels to drain.
Be sure to manage the oil temperature using a thermometer, as it will drop every time you add raw chicken. Continue frying in batches. Once all of the chicken has been fried once, fry the chicken a second time for 3 to 5 minutes until super crispy. Be careful not to burn it!
Heat a clean wok over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of oil along with the dried chilies. Cook the chili peppers for about 5 seconds. Add the minced garlic and Shaoxing wine.
Next, add the General Tso’s Chicken sauce you prepared earlier. Bring the sauce to a simmer, and stir in the cornstarch slurry until it thickens to a glossy sauce. Add the chicken and broccoli, and toss until everything is coated in the sauce. Plate and serve immediately with steamed rice!

Nutrition

General Tso's Chicken by The Woks of Life. Recipe URL: https://body-goals.fit/takeout-places-general-tsos-chicken/%3C/em%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cscript%3Ewindow.wprm_recipes = {"recipe-31218":{"type":"food","name":"General Tso's Chicken","slug":"wprm-general-tsos-chicken","image_url":"https:\/\/thewoksoflife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/general-tso-chicken-11.jpg","rating":{"count":100,"total":492,"average":4.92,"type":{"comment":100,"no_comment":0,"user":0},"user":0},"ingredients":[{"amount":"1","unit":"pound","name":"boneless skinless chicken thighs","notes":"(450g, cut into 1-inch pieces)","id":555,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1","unit":"pound","timestamp":1774163236000},"type":"ingredient","uid":1,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1","unit":"pound","unitParsed":"pound"}}},{"amount":"1","unit":"teaspoon","name":"Shaoxing wine","notes":"","id":272,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1","unit":"teaspoon","timestamp":1774163236000},"type":"ingredient","uid":2,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1","unit":"teaspoon","unitParsed":"teaspoon"}}},{"amount":"1","unit":"tablespoon","name":"water","notes":"","id":332,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1","unit":"tablespoon","timestamp":1774163236000},"type":"ingredient","uid":3,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1","unit":"tablespoon","unitParsed":"tablespoon"}}},{"amount":"1\/4","unit":"teaspoon","name":"salt","notes":"","id":260,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1\/4","unit":"teaspoon","timestamp":1774163236000},"type":"ingredient","uid":4,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1\/4","unit":"teaspoon","unitParsed":"teaspoon"}}},{"amount":"1\/4","unit":"teaspoon","name":"ground white pepper","notes":"","id":346,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1\/4","unit":"teaspoon","timestamp":1774163236000},"type":"ingredient","uid":5,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1\/4","unit":"teaspoon","unitParsed":"teaspoon"}}},{"amount":"1","unit":"teaspoon","name":"sesame oil","notes":"","id":266,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1","unit":"teaspoon","timestamp":1774163236000},"type":"ingredient","uid":6,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1","unit":"teaspoon","unitParsed":"teaspoon"}}},{"amount":"1","unit":"teaspoon","name":"toasted sesame seeds","notes":"","id":287,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1","unit":"teaspoon","timestamp":1774163236000},"type":"ingredient","uid":7,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1","unit":"teaspoon","unitParsed":"teaspoon"}}},{"amount":"1","unit":"tablespoon","name":"all purpose flour","notes":"","id":282,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1","unit":"tablespoon","timestamp":1774163236000},"type":"ingredient","uid":8,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1","unit":"tablespoon","unitParsed":"tablespoon"}}},{"amount":"1\/4","unit":"cup","name":"cornstarch","notes":"","id":267,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1\/4","unit":"cup","timestamp":1774163236000},"type":"ingredient","uid":9,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1\/4","unit":"cup","unitParsed":"cup"}}},{"amount":"1\/3","unit":"cup","name":"low sodium chicken stock","notes":"","id":447,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1\/3","unit":"cup","timestamp":1774163236000},"type":"ingredient","uid":11,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1\/3","unit":"cup","unitParsed":"cup"}}},{"amount":"1","unit":"teaspoon","name":"dark soy sauce","notes":"","id":274,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1","unit":"teaspoon","timestamp":1774163236000},"type":"ingredient","uid":12,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1","unit":"teaspoon","unitParsed":"teaspoon"}}},{"amount":"1","unit":"tablespoon","name":"soy sauce","notes":"(or seasoned soy sauce<\/a>)","id":265,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1","unit":"tablespoon","timestamp":1774163236000},"type":"ingredient","uid":13,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1","unit":"tablespoon","unitParsed":"tablespoon"}}},{"amount":"3 1\/2","unit":"tablespoons","name":"brown sugar","notes":"","id":595,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"3 1\/2","unit":"tablespoons","timestamp":1774163236000},"type":"ingredient","uid":14,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"3 1\/2","unit":"tablespoons","unitParsed":"tablespoons"}}},{"amount":"1\/2","unit":"teaspoon","name":"rice wine vinegar","notes":"","id":331,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1\/2","unit":"teaspoon","timestamp":1774163236000},"type":"ingredient","uid":15,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1\/2","unit":"teaspoon","unitParsed":"teaspoon"}}},{"amount":"3","unit":"cups","name":"broccoli florets","notes":"(about 8 ounces\/225g)","id":1034,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"3","unit":"cups","timestamp":1774163236000},"type":"ingredient","uid":17,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"3","unit":"cups","unitParsed":"cups"}}},{"amount":"4","unit":"cups","name":"peanut oil","notes":"(for frying, plus 1 tablespoon; 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