Chinese Takeout General Tso’s Chicken (Crispy Double-Fried Recipe)
Most General Tso’s chicken you get from a takeout place is too sweet, with soggy chicken and no crunch. The meat is tough, the crust has no texture, and the…
Most homemade chow mein fails for one of two reasons: soggy noodles or a wok full of steam where charred bits should be. If your homemade chow mein keeps turning out soggy, the recipe you used probably got the ingredients right and the technique wrong. After researching how dozens of Chinese takeout kitchens actually make this dish, I found the same three things every time. The restaurants that make the best chow mein treat noodle preparation as its own separate process, cook everything in small batches, and use a sauce ratio that coats the noodles without turning into a puddle at the bottom of the plate.
The other thing I learned is that chow mein and lo mein are not the same dish, despite how often menus use the names interchangeably. Chow mein is drier, uses thinner noodles, and relies on charring the noodles for flavor and texture. Lo mein is saucier, with thicker noodles. Getting the noodle type and preparation right is the whole point of this recipe.
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Egg noodles. You want thin egg noodles, not the thicker lo mein variety. In the dried aisle, look for labels that say “chow mein noodles,” “Canton egg noodles,” or “Hong Kong egg noodles.” In the refrigerated section, look for “thin egg noodles,” “thin wonton noodles,” “steam egg noodles,” or “Hong Kong-style pan-fried noodles.” Fresh noodles cook in 15-20 seconds. Dried noodles take 2-3 minutes but double in weight, so start with half the amount. If you can’t find any of these, regular thin spaghetti works in a pinch.
Chicken breast (or your protein of choice). Slice against the grain into thin strips that mimic the shape of the noodles. Baking soda tenderizes the surface so it browns faster and stays tender through high-heat cooking. The cut matters less than the prep.
Light soy sauce and dark soy sauce. These are not the same thing. Light soy sauce provides salt and savory depth. Dark soy sauce is thicker, slightly sweeter, and adds the deep brown color that makes chow mein look like takeout. You need both. Lee Kum Kee makes clearly labeled bottles of each. If all you can find is Kikkoman, use it as your light soy sauce. It’s a Japanese soy that’s closer to Chinese light soy in flavor and consistency.
Oyster sauce. Lee Kum Kee Premium Oyster Sauce is the standard. If you have a shellfish allergy, mushroom-based vegetarian oyster sauce is available at most Asian grocery stores and works well here.
Shaoxing wine. A rice wine used in most Chinese stir-fry cooking. Adds a faint caramel, mildly acidic flavor that you can’t quite replicate with anything else. If you can’t find it, dry sherry is the closest substitute. For no-alcohol cooking, use extra chicken broth with a splash of rice vinegar.
MSG. If you’ve ever wondered why your homemade takeout doesn’t quite taste like the restaurant, this is probably why. In Asian grocery stores, look for “Aji-No-Moto.” In Western grocery stores, it’s on the spice aisle under the brand name “Accent.”
1. Prep the noodles. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. For fresh noodles, drop in 8 oz and loosen until the bundles unravel, about 15-20 seconds. For dried noodles, use 4 oz (they double in weight) and cook for 2-3 minutes, about 1 minute less than the package says. Strain immediately and rinse under cold running water. This stops the cooking and washes off surface starch that causes clumping.
2. Dry and oil the noodles. Lay the noodles on a clean kitchen towel and blot them dry. Transfer to a bowl and toss with a small amount of oil. This keeps the noodles separated and helps them crisp during the stir-fry instead of sticking and steaming. You can prep noodles up to several hours ahead.
3. Tenderize the chicken. Slice the chicken breast against the grain into 1/4-inch slices, then cut those into 1/4-inch strips. Wash under cold running water for 1-2 minutes and squeeze dry. For the direct method: massage 1/4 tsp baking soda into the chicken for 1-2 minutes, then add the marinade (cornstarch, sugar, salt, soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, oil) and refrigerate at least 30 minutes. For the brine method: dissolve 1/2 tsp baking soda in 1 cup water, pour over chicken, refrigerate 2+ hours, then drain, rinse, and add the marinade.
4. Cut the vegetables into strips. Everything gets cut to mimic the shape of the noodles. Slice onion with the grain into thin strips (they hold up better in a stir-fry than cross-grain cuts). Peel and stack cabbage leaves, then slice into 1/4-inch ribbons. Julienne the carrots, or use pre-cut matchstick carrots. Cut green onions into 2-inch pieces, separating whites from greens.
5. Mix the sauce. Whisk together sugar, MSG, salt, and white pepper in a small bowl. Add chicken broth, Shaoxing wine, light soy sauce, and dark soy sauce. Whisk until the dry ingredients dissolve. Add oyster sauce and sesame oil. Whisk until incorporated.
6. Cook the chicken. Heat the wok over medium-high until you see light wisps of smoke. Add 1 tbsp neutral oil, swirl to coat. Add the chicken in a single layer and cook until browned and done. Transfer to a bowl.
7. Cook the vegetables. Return the wok to medium-high heat with another tablespoon of oil. Add onion, scallion whites, cabbage, and carrot. Cook 1-2 minutes until crisp-tender. You want them barely cooked with some crunch remaining. Transfer to the bowl with the chicken.
8. Stir-fry the noodles. Return the wok to medium-high heat with another tablespoon of oil. Add garlic and ginger, cook 10-15 seconds to flavor the oil. Add the prepared noodles and toss quickly, making sure the garlic and ginger are distributed. Cook for a couple minutes until you see charred bits forming on the noodles. Regulate your heat to get char without burning.
9. Add the sauce. Push the noodles to one side and pour the sauce directly onto the hot wok surface, not on the noodles. This caramelizes the sauce slightly, adding depth. Then toss the noodles through the sauce until evenly colored. Lower the heat after this step because the sauce burns fast.
10. Combine everything. Add the chicken and vegetables back to the wok and toss until mixed. Add the bean sprouts and scallion greens, mix in, and kill the heat. Adding the sprouts and greens last gives you fresh crunch in the finished dish.
Cook in small batches. The number one reason home stir-fries end up soupy is overcrowding the wok. Every ingredient releases moisture. On a home burner, that moisture can’t evaporate fast enough, so it pools and steams everything. Three rounds of cooking (protein, vegetables, noodles) takes an extra few minutes but gives you noodles with actual char on them instead of a soggy pile.
Dry your noodles. This is the single biggest factor in noodle quality. Wet noodles create steam in the wok, which drops the temperature and boils the noodles instead of charring them. Blot with a towel, let them cool completely, and toss in oil before stir-frying.
Pull the noodles a minute early. Cook them about 1 minute less than the package says. They finish cooking in the stir-fry. Overboiled noodles turn mushy and stick to the wok.
Use more oil than you think. Chinese takeout kitchens use a lot of oil. It prevents sticking, carries flavor, and helps the noodles crisp. If the amount in this recipe makes you nervous, know that most of it stays in the noodles, not pooled at the bottom.
Try the butane torch trick. After boiling and oiling the noodles, spread them on a sheet pan and hit them with a butane torch until you see blackened spots. Do the same with the cooked vegetables. This is a technique from Kenji Lopez-Alt’s book The Wok, and it actually replicates the smoky wok hei flavor that’s nearly impossible to achieve on a home burner. It’s optional, but it works.
The main difference is texture and sauce. Chow mein uses thinner noodles, less sauce, and relies on charring for flavor. Lo mein uses thicker noodles, more sauce, and the noodles are softer. The terms get used interchangeably on a lot of menus, but they’re different dishes. If you want the lo mein version, check out my Chinese Takeout Beef Lo Mein recipe.
Almost always one of four things: you overboiled them, you didn’t rinse them in cold water (which removes the surface starch that causes clumping), you didn’t dry them enough before stir-frying, or your wok wasn’t hot enough when they went in. Noodle prep is a separate process from the stir-fry, and skipping any step compounds the problems.
The recipe works with beef, pork, shrimp, or tofu. The tenderizing method (baking soda) works on any meat. For shrimp, skip the baking soda and just marinade briefly. For tofu, press and cube it, then pan-fry until golden before adding.
No, it’s optional. But it adds a savory depth that’s hard to replicate with other ingredients. If your homemade takeout never quite tastes like the restaurant, MSG is often the missing piece.
On a restaurant burner, you can. Those burners produce significantly more heat than home stovetops. When you crowd a home wok with chicken, vegetables, and noodles at the same time, the temperature drops, everything releases liquid, and you end up steaming instead of stir-frying. Cooking in batches takes a few extra minutes but gives you the texture and char that defines good chow mein.
