Recipe
General Tso's Chicken
Crisp chicken tossed in a glossy sweet-spicy sauce with garlic, ginger and chillies. Takeaway-style flavour, built for the hob at home.
Ingredients
Method
15 mins prep20 mins cook35 mins total
Place the chicken in a bowl with 4 tablespoons cornflour, 2 tablespoons light soy sauce, salt and pepper. Toss until evenly coated, then rest for 10 minutes.
Whisk together 3 tablespoons light soy, dark soy, rice vinegar, hoisin, tomato puree, sugar, stock and sesame oil. In a small bowl, mix 2 tablespoons cornflour with 2 tablespoons cold water to make a slurry.
Heat 2 tablespoons neutral oil in a large hob pan over medium-high heat. Fry the coated chicken in batches for 3 to 4 minutes per batch until crisp and cooked through, then set aside.
Reduce heat to medium, add the remaining oil, then fry garlic, ginger and dried chillies for 30 to 45 seconds until fragrant.
Pour in the sauce and simmer for 1 to 2 minutes.
Stir in the cornflour slurry a little at a time until the sauce thickens to a glossy coating consistency.
Return the chicken to the pan and toss for 1 to 2 minutes until fully coated and hot.
Finish with spring onions and sesame seeds, then serve immediately.
Notes
Fry in batches so the chicken crisps instead of steaming.
Add the slurry gradually; stop when the sauce coats the back of a spoon.
Adjust heat by reducing or increasing the dried chillies.
About this recipe
General Tso's Chicken is all about contrast: crisp coated chicken and a sticky, punchy sauce that balances sweet, savoury, tangy and heat.
This home version keeps things practical with batch-frying and a quick slurry finish so the sauce clings properly without turning gluey.
