The General Tso's Chicken My Dad's Made 100,000 Times

Step 1: Prepare chicken

We'll cut up our chicken breast (10 oz) (thighs are fine too) into bite-sized pieces.

Afterwards, place the chicken in a bowl along with salt (0.50 tsp), egg (beat and save half for later), cornstarch (1 tbsp), and water (0.50 tbsp).

Mix and massage for about a minute to help the chicken absorb the marinade, and set it aside while we continue preparing our dish.

Step 2: Chop ingredients

We'll chop the aromatics and the vegetables:

• garlic (2 clove) - crush with a knife and mince
• ginger - cut into slices, then strips, and mince
• red bell pepper (1 oz) - cut into strips
• broccoli (optional) - cut a few pieces of broccoli + cook with your method of choice
• tomato (optional) - cut a few wedges

A lot of Chinese American restaurants like to plate General Tso's Chicken on a bed of broccoli, so feel free to do the same.

Step 3: Create fried chicken batter

To a different bowl, we’ll add:

• flour (3 tbsp)
• cornstarch (1 tbsp)
• the remaining half of the beaten egg 
• baking powder (1 tsp)
• water (5 tbsp) - we might need to add more as we mix. 
• olive oil (1 tbsp) - add last, after mixing everything else for a minute. This helps the chicken turn out more shiny and helps to prevent the batter from clumping together.

Mix the ingredients (minus the olive oil) for about a minute. Add the olive oil, and continue mixing and maybe adding 1/2 tbsp of water at a time until we get the consistency we want.

Step 4: Heat up oil for frying

Using corn oil (or another high smoke point, neutral flavored, refined oil), fill a wok or pan up to 1.5 to 2 inches deep.

We’ll be frying our chicken twice. For the first fry, we’re looking to heat our oil to around 300°F (149°C), and then 350 - 400°F (176-204°C) for the second frying.

There are a few ways to tell if the oil is hot enough:

• Dropping some batter into the oil. It should start sizzling and float to the top immediately, but it shouldn't turn golden brown instantly.
• Dropping something with high water content (like a slice of red bell pepper) into the oil. It should start sizzling immediately.

Another easy way to monitor the temperature is to get an Instant Read Thermometer, which allows you to set a temperature probe in the oil and know exactly what temperature it’s at. Here are some of my favorite options.

• OXO - https://amzn.to/2ODdQvc​
• iWeber - https://amzn.to/3bwaeEj​

Step 5: Create sauce

As our oil heats up, we’ll prepare our all-important sauce by mixing 

• light soy sauce (2 tbsp)
• dark soy sauce (1 tsp)
• sugar (2 tbsp)
• vinegar (1 tbsp)
• ketchup (1 tbsp)
• white pepper (0.50 tsp)

Make sure to taste it and adjust if necessary :)

Step 6: Fry chicken, twice

Mix the chicken with the batter, making sure each piece is evenly coated.

Fry #1 - cooking the chicken
~10 minutes @ 300°F (149°C)

Once the oil is hot enough, using chopsticks, GENTLY (we don't want hot oil splashing on us) transfer each piece of chicken into the oil. Going slow also helps prevent the chicken from clumping together.

Gently stir, and wait for the chicken to start turning golden brown. Then, using a spider or slotted spoon, transfer the chicken out of the oil into a bowl.

Wait for the oil to reheat.

Fry #2 - GETTING THAT CRISP
~1-2 minutes @ 350 - 400°F (176 - 204°C)

Carefully pour the chicken back into the wok. You might notice that my dad just pours everything in, but uses the ladle as a stopper to slow down the chicken to prevent splashing.

Once it's done, use the ladle to transfer the chicken out of the wok.

You'll probably want to taste the chicken at this point. (Heh heh.)

Step 7: Cook sauce & mix with chicken

The last step is to create the sauce.

We’ll scoop some of the frying oil into a new pan. Let the pan heat up for 1 to 2 minutes until the oil is shimmering, or forming ripples.

Then we’ll cook...

• Our dried chili peppers (4 piece) for about 10-15 seconds.
• Our minced garlic and ginger for 20-30 seconds to release the aromas and flavors. 
• Next, we’ll pour our sauce mix from earlier and stir around for another 20-30 seconds. 
• Then, we’ll thicken the sauce with a cornstarch slurry made of cornstarch (1 tsp) and water (2 tbsp). Stir for 20-30 seconds.
• Add the bell peppers and sesame oil (1 tsp), and stir and cook for another 30 seconds. 
• You can adjust the thickness of the sauce to your liking by adding either more cornstarch (thicker) or more water (thinner). 

Add and stir the chicken around to evenly coat it in the sauce.

Step 8: Plate & call the family over!

Transfer the chicken out of the pan onto a plate, and garnish with any of the optional vegetables you might have prepared.

You should be eating this ASAP to enjoy the chicken at its peak crunchy, tenderness.

As I mentioned earlier, a common way to plate this is on a bed of (cooked) broccoli, so you can try that if you like :) This also goes really well with rice!