Name: General Tso’s Chicken ( )
Yield: Makes 4 to 6 Servings
Cuisine: China
Ingredients: 2 teaspoons sugar; 2 teaspoons Shaoxing wine; 2 teaspoons white rice vinegar; ½ to ¾ teaspoon Red Oil, to taste; 1½ teaspoons minced garlic; 1 tablespoon peeled and minced ginger; 2 large whole chicken legs (thigh and drumstick), 12 ounces each; Pinch of white pepper; 4 to 5 white portions scallions, cut crosswise into ½-inch-thick pieces (¼ cup); 2 tablespoons cornstarch; 1½ tablespoons double dark soy sauce; 1½ tablespoons hoisin sauce; 3 tablespoons cornstarch; 3½ cups peanut oil; 1 large egg, lightly beaten; ¼ teaspoon salt; 8 small dried chiles, preferably Thai

Preparation info

Makes
4 to 6
Servings

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking

By Eileen Yin-Fei Lo

Published 2009

About

If there is anyone who has not heard of General Tso’s chicken, I have yet to meet him or her, for it is as famous and ubiquitous as any Chinese dish in or out of China. Like many traditional preparations, the history of this small piece of Hunanese cooking is a fanciful mix of history, myth, and folklore. I have seen it on the English menus of Chinese restaurants not only as the chicken of General Tso, but also of General Tsao, Taso, Toa, Cho, Gau, Ching, Kung, Yseng, Zuo, and Ciao—generals