General Tso’s Chicken

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

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

Ingredients

Asia
China

Ingredients

Method