My son has been asking me to cook General Tso’s chicken for a long time now. At first, I was not interested because of the presence of dried chilies in the recipe. I am not a fan of spicy food, but then I realized that I am the cook so I can control how much spice to put into the dish. So after searching online, I found a recipe that has ingredients that are easy to find and procedure that is easy to follow. After adapting the recipe to my family’s taste, I went to buy the ingredients and started on the task of making General Tso’s Chicken. For this dish, I used chicken thigh because it is more tender and juicy compare to the chicken breast. After marinating the chicken pieces in egg whites, soy sauce and dry sherry, I opted to fry it first before stir-frying with the aromatics and sauce. I only used 2 dried chilies and the result was delicious chicken nuggets that was not too spicy 🙂
General Tso’s Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 cup cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 6 small dried chilies or less depending on your personal preference
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons minced ginger
- 2 inch green onions cut into 1- lengths
- 2 cups vegetable oil for frying
Marinade:
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon dry sherry
- 2 egg whites
Sauce:
- ¼ cup chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Combine broth, rice vinegar, soy sauce and sugar in a bowl. Stir until sugar has dissolved. Set aside.
- Combine marinade ingredients in a bowl. Pour mixture over chicken pieces and set aside for 10 minutes.
- Roll each chicken piece in cornstarch and place in a single layer on a plate ready to be fried. Fry in hot oil until golden (around 5 minutes). Drain and set aside.
- Place a wok or skillet over medium high heat. Add vegetable oil and sesame oil, swirling to coat sides. Add the chilies, garlic, ginger and green onions; stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the sauce and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Add cornstarch solution and cook, stirring until sauce thickens.
- Return the chicken to the wok and stir until chicken pieces has been coated with sauce. Serve with steamed rice.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Karly
Peace out takeout! I can’t wait to see my family’s reaction when I tell them this didn’t come in a little white box. Looks delicious!
Dede
Made this for dinner this week and WOW!!
The commissary here does not carry dried or fresh chili peppers so I had to used dried pepper flakes and well I used a bit to much so it was a little on the spicy side for what my family is used to, but over all this great and I will be making it again.
Thanks so much
Liza
You’re welcome Dede. I am glad you and your family enjoyed it 🙂