Pin Print

General Tso’s Chicken

This is the crunchiest, most delicious General Tso’s I've ever had. I use some fun tricks to turn up the volume on juiciness and crunchiness. Try this out next time you want to recreate an American Chinese classic at home.

Prep Time: 1

Cook Time: 20

Servings: generous portions

Ingredients

CHICKEN AND MARINADE:

450 g boneless skinless chicken breast, 2 breasts
30 g soy sauce
30 g mirin
2 g msg
2 g baking soda
30 g potato starch, sub cornstarch

DRY MIX (FOR DREDGE + CRAGGY BITS):

350 g all-purpose flour
10 g baking powder
8 g garlic powder
20 g kosher salt
350 g potato starch

BATTER (FOR ADHESION):

250 g dry mix, from Dry Mix above
300 g water

SAUCE:

60 g soy sauce
30 g sesame oil
60 g mirin
45 g rice vinegar
30 g sambal oelek or sriracha
20 g ketchup
70 g sugar
10 g brown sugar
10 g cornstarch
1 g msg

STIR-FRY AND FINISH:

40 g scallion, whites and light greens, sliced. reserve dark greens for garnish
5-8 chiles de árbol, cracked and deseeded, optional if spice sensitive
20 g ginger, grated
20 g garlic, grated
neutral high smoke oil for frying, peanut, canola, vegetable, about 1 ½-2 inch depth in pot
steamed rice to serve

Metric – US Customary

Instructions

INSTRUCTIONS:

Jaccard each breast 10 times per side (or poke 20-30 times per side with a sharp fork). Slice each breast into 3-4 long strips, then cut into 3/4in cubes.
In a medium bowl combine soy sauce, mirin, MSG, baking soda, and potato starch. Add chicken and mix to coat. Let the chicken marinate for 20 minutes.
In a large bowl whisk flour, baking powder, garlic powder, salt, and potato starch until uniform.
In a separate bowl, weigh 250g of the dry mix. Add 300g water and stir until it looks like thin pancake batter/low-quality paint.
Pour 200g of the batter into the remaining dry mix. Briefly whisk, then use your hand to rub and crumble until you've got rice-to-lentil sized pebbles with a powdery background. These dehydrated starchy flecks are the crisp makers.
Toss about ⅓ of the marinated chicken in the batter bowl to lightly coat (be gentle to keep marinade on the meat). Lift, let excess drip, then drop into the craggy dry mix.
Fluff/tumble to build a strong base layer without rubbing it off. For each piece, shower on extra craggy bits and give a soft squeeze, then shake off excess. Repeat with remaining chicken.
Spread breaded chicken on a ¼ sheet tray and refrigerate 20 minutes. This hydrates the outer starch and boosts adhesion 30-50%. Do not skip this step.
In a bowl whisk soy sauce, sesame oil, mirin, rice vinegar, sambal, ketchup, sugar, brown sugar, cornstarch, and MSG until smooth. Set aside.
Heat neutral oil in a Dutch oven to about 325°F (1.5-2in depth; never fill pot more than 50%). Fry chicken in two batches. Gently lower in, don't touch for 1 minute, then nudge to prevent sticking. Fry 6-7 minutes until deeply golden. Drain on a rack or paper towel. Repeat with second batch.
Stir-fry aromatics. Carefully move the hot oil aside (off oven). Heat a wok or large nonstick pan over high. Add a squeeze of oil, then scallions; stir-fry 60 seconds. Add cracked chiles (optional) and toast briefly. Add ginger and garlic; stir constantly for 30-40 seconds until just fragrant.
Pour in the sauce around the hot pan edge. Bring to a boil and reduce 15-20% until it leaves a trail. Add fried chicken and toss for 30 seconds to simmer in the sauce. The coating will drink it in and turn shiny, sticky, and still-crisp in spots.
Pile over steamed rice. Spoon on any extra sauce from the wok. Garnish with reserved scallion greens.