Description
Invented in Taiwan and exploded in the US. A meat dish where crispy fried chicken is coated in a rich, sweet, spicy, and sour sauce flavored with dried chilies, soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar.
Restaurants serving General Tso's Chicken
Researching
We are researching restaurants that serve this dish.
On this site you can check dictionary details and, later, places to buy or eat related items.
The Recipe section below is a general reference, not a recipe from the listed shops.
Recipe
Ingredients
- Chicken thigh
- Dried red chili
- Garlic
- Soy sauce
- Vinegar
- Sugar
- Potato starch
Instructions
- [Authentic Recipe]
- [Chicken Prep] Cut chicken thigh bite-sized, massage firmly with soy sauce, egg yolk, and potato starch.
- Drop chicken into high 180°C oil, fry fragrantly until the outside is 'ultra-crunchy'.
- [Magic Sauce] Prepare a special sauce mixing soy sauce, black vinegar (or white vinegar), sugar, wine, and potato starch slurry.
- Heat oil in a wok, sauté massive 'dried red chilies (tubes)' with minced garlic and ginger without burning to transfer aroma and heat to the oil.
- Return freshly fried chicken to the wok, vigorously pour in the prepared special sauce.
- Toss violently on high heat until the sauce coats the crispy chicken batter 'glossily', drizzle sesame oil at the end to finish.
Learn more Spice, substitutes, tips
Key spices
Savory dried chili aroma and sharp vinegar scent
Substitutes at Japanese supermarkets
Chicken breast (dry, so let it absorb moisture during marinade)
Pairing
White Rice or Taiwan Beer
Trivia
[For Everyone] The most famous menu in US Chinese restaurants as 'General Tso's Chicken'. Actually invented not in mainland China, but in Taipei in the 1950s by Hunan culinary master 'Peng Chang-kuei' who crossed to Taiwan. Similar to Kung Pao Chicken but lacks peanuts/Sichuan pepper, emphasizing 'crispy batter' and 'acidity' more. A taste loved by all.
Eating tips & etiquette
[Unique Eating] Bounce the rich 'sweet, sour, spicy, umami' sauce-soaked batter onto white rice, drawing out its rice-thief potential to the limit to shovel it down!
Allergen
Wheat, Chicken, Soy, Egg, Sesame