General Tso's Chicken
General Tso's chicken with a crispy double-fried egg white crust and a balanced sweet, sour, and spicy sauce. This recipe uses vodka in the batter to inhibit gluten development, a cornstarch-and-flour dredge with a seeding technique for craggy texture, and a two-vinegar sauce tested across 17 versions. Boneless thighs stay tender through baking soda tenderizing and two rounds of frying at different temperatures.
Servings 4 servings
Calories 550kcal
Equipment
- 1 Whisk
Ingredients
Egg White Marinade
- 1 egg white beaten until frothy
- 1 tbsp soy sauce Chinese light soy sauce
- 2 tbsp Shaoxing cooking wine
- 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 2 tbsp vodka substitute: sparkling water
Chicken
- 1 lb chicken thighs boneless, skinless, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/8 tsp white pepper
- 1/4 tsp MSG
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt if using Morton's, use 1/8 tsp; if table salt, use 1 pinch
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
Dry Dredge
- 3/4 cup cornstarch + 1 tbsp
- 1/2 cup AP flour all-purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp MSG
Sauce Base
- 3 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/4 cup Asian chicken broth or 1/2 tsp chicken bouillon powder dissolved in 1/4 cup water
- 2 tbsp soy sauce Chinese light soy sauce
- 2 tsp dark soy sauce Chinese dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Shaoxing cooking wine
- 1 tbsp distilled white vinegar
- 1 tbsp unseasoned rice vinegar
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
Aromatics
- 2 tsp garlic grated or minced
- 2 tsp ginger grated or minced
- 5-6 dried chili peppers or dried Chile de Arbol
- 1 tbsp scallion white parts only, finely sliced
For Cooking
- neutral oil vegetable, canola, or peanut; enough for deep frying
Serving
- 1 broccoli florets, blanched or microwaved
Instructions
Make the Marinade and Batter
- Beat egg white until frothy. Whisk in light soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, sesame oil, and vodka. Reserve 2-3 tablespoons of this mixture and set aside for seeding the dredge.
- Add cornstarch, white pepper, MSG, kosher salt, and baking soda to the remaining marinade. Whisk to combine. Add chicken thighs and stir until every piece is coated. Marinate for at least 15 minutes, or refrigerate for up to 8 hours.
Make the Dredge
- Whisk together cornstarch, all-purpose flour, baking powder, kosher salt, and MSG. Add the 2-3 tablespoons of reserved marinade and work it into the dry mix with a whisk or your fingers until small clumps form. This is called seeding and creates the craggy texture on the finished chicken.
Make the Sauce
- Whisk together brown sugar, cornstarch, chicken stock, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, white vinegar, rice vinegar, and sesame oil. Make sure the cornstarch and sugar are fully dissolved. Set aside.
Dredge and First Fry
- Stir the marinated chicken well (cornstarch settles). Remove pieces a few at a time and coat thoroughly in the dry dredge, shaking off excess.
- Heat neutral oil to 350°F (175°C). Fry chicken in two batches for approximately 4 minutes per batch, until cooked through. Remove to a wire rack to drain.
Second Fry
- Increase oil temperature to 375°F (190°C). Return all chicken to the oil and fry for an additional 2 minutes. Remove to wire rack to drain.
Finish the Sauce
- Heat 1 tablespoon of neutral oil in a pan or wok over medium heat. Add dried chili peppers, sliced scallion whites, grated garlic, and grated ginger. Stir for 20-30 seconds until garlic and ginger are fragrant.
- Whisk the reserved sauce to re-suspend the cornstarch. Pour into the pan with the aromatics. Simmer until the sauce thickens, about 1-3 minutes.
Toss and Serve
- Add the double-fried chicken to the sauce and toss until every piece is coated. Serve immediately with blanched broccoli.
Video
Notes
Vodka substitute: If you can't use vodka, sparkling water is the best substitute. The carbonation creates a similar light, crispy effect by adding air pockets to the batter.
Chicken breast option: You can use breast meat, but let it sit in the marinade longer so the baking soda has more time to tenderize. Reduce the first fry time by about 1 minute. Thighs are recommended for the best texture.
Adjusting spice level: The dried chili peppers add aroma more than heat. For more spice, break open one or two peppers before adding them to the oil. For no heat, leave them out entirely.
Seeding the dredge: Adding 2-3 tablespoons of the wet marinade to the dry dredge creates small clumps. These clumps fry into the craggy, textured bits that give General Tso's its signature crunch. Don't skip this step.
Two vinegars: White vinegar alone is too sharp. Unseasoned rice vinegar is milder with a slightly sweet edge. Using both gives the sauce acidity without tasting like straight vinegar.
Make-ahead option: You can do the first fry in advance and store the par-fried chicken in the fridge for up to 2 days. When ready to eat, do the second fry at 375°F and finish with the sauce. Cuts dinner-night active time to about 10 minutes.
Storage: Store chicken and sauce separately if possible. Chicken keeps 3-4 days in the fridge, sauce keeps up to 5 days. Reheat chicken in a 400°F oven or air fryer to re-crisp before saucing. Fried chicken without sauce freezes for up to 2 months.
General Tso's vs. sesame chicken: Nearly the same dish. Leave out the dried chili peppers and toss with sesame seeds to make sesame chicken.
Nutrition
Calories: 550kcal