Chinese Takeout General Tso's Chicken Secrets Revealed

General Tso's chicken is arguably the most iconic Chinese takeout dish of all time at its best it's crispy sweet Tangy mildly spicy and will leave your taste buds standing at attention at its worst it's a spongy one-dimensional sugar bomb that should be dishonorably discharged by the end of our mission today you will be equipped with the culinary Arsenal you need to make it at home better than any takeout restaurant you've ever been to now the first thing we'll need to address is the chicken all too often the meat is inedibly tough and the batter is

a soggy mess that goes AWOL as soon as it hits the sauce this is because most takeout places fry their Chicken in big batches before service freeze it and then refry it to order and while this does save on prep time and labor costs when you're under Fire on the front lines in a busy kitchen it does affect the final texture and flavor of the dish a typical General sew recipe follows a three-step process the chicken is placed in a batter made of egg and corn starch then fried and finally Sauced and we're going to

follow this basic method but introduce a few changes that will give our chicken a decisive military advantage to make the marinade let's start by whisking one egg white and I know you're probably wondering why aren't we using the whole egg it's because egg whites are high in protein and virtually fat free eliminating the fat Rich yolk will help the breading mixture more closely adhere to the chicken and create a lighter crispier crust so whisk your egg white until it's frothy and add one tablespoon of light soy sauce two tablespoons of xiaoxing wine half a teaspoon

of toasted sesame oil and 2 tablespoons of vodka yes comrades you heard me right vodka the addition of liquid courage to a batter accomplishes a number of things most importantly it boils off faster than water and it reduces the amount of water the starches can absorb thus inhibiting gluten development in the round it basically makes a much crispier crust that will stay crunchy even in a sauce and if this is Haram you can replace it with sparkling water then give everything a good whisk and set the marinade aside now at this stage most takeout joints

will add the chicken and corn cornstarch to create a batter and then proceed directly to the frying step but because corn starch has no gluten it creates a spongy crust that gets soggy almost immediately after frying to remedy this we need to introduce just a bit of gluten into the mix by way of all-purpose flour this will ensure our crust stays crunchy even after being Sauced to make the dredge let's start with three quarter cup plus one tablespoon of corn starch half a cup of all-purpose flour 3 4 teaspoon of baking powder and this is

a leavening agent that will give our crust a bit of lift 3 4 teaspoon of kosher salt and half a teaspoon of MSG give everything a whisk to ensure it's mixed well and add two to three tablespoons of the reserved marinade mixture whisk it into the dredge making sure it's completely absorbed this is called seeding and will create little clumps of flour mixture that will help us get those craggy bits that will provide texture to our crust for the chicken most of the takeout industrial complex uses breast meat and this is the reason why your

average General sauce is often tough and chewy breast meat is very lean and simply doesn't hold up well to repeated sessions in hot oil not to mention being refried straight out of the freezer so I recommend boneless skinless thighs dark meat is much more forgiving of the high heat generated by deep frying plus they're cheaper and more flavorful you'll just want to cut up your thighs into bite-sized pieces slightly smaller than the finished product to account for the breading after you've dealt with the chicken let's toss it in with the reserved egg white marinade and

add three tablespoons of cornstarch an eighth of a teaspoon of white pepper a quarter teaspoon of MSG a quarter teaspoon of kosher salt and a quarter teaspoon of the baking soda this is a trick a lot of takeout restaurants use to ensure their chicken stays juicy the introduction of an alkaline element like baking soda causes a chemical reaction that makes it much more difficult for the proteins in the meat to constrict and the result is meat that stays much more tender even after high heat cooking then give everything a good stir and leave the chicken

in the batter for at least 15 minutes or you can toss it in the fridge for up to eight hours for the sauce I tested about 20 different versions and the two most common issues I had is that most are one-dimensionally sweet or way too sour and although an intense Sugar Rush is a good thing when charging into battle in my estimation a great General sew's sauce should be well balanced between sweet sour spicy and savory so here's the battle plan I drew up let's start with three and a half tablespoons of brown sugar this

has an understated molasses note that it's a bit more raw and not as sharp as white sugar then one tablespoon of corn starch a quarter cup of chicken stock two tablespoons of light soy sauce for seasoning two teaspoons of dark soy sauce for color one tablespoon of xiaoxing wine one teaspoon of toasted sesame oil one tablespoon of distilled white vinegar and one tablespoon of unseasoned rice vinegar the two different kinds of vinegar really balance out the sourness it's not as tart as using only white vinegar which is standard and the rice vinegar brings a mild

slightly sweet flavor then give everything a good whisk until it's thoroughly combined and set the sauce aside for the frying station let's heat some neutral oil to 350 degrees here I'm using my deep fryer because it's just easier for me but you can totally use your biggest pot just make sure you use a thermometer to monitor the temperature while the oil is heating up let's set up our breading station here I've got the chicken in its batter and our dredging mix now coat the battered chicken in the dredge a bit at a time making sure

every piece is completely coated in the flour mixture shaking off the excess when you're done after the oil is up to Temp let's drop half our chicken and fry it for approximately four minutes when the chicken is done remove it to a wire rack to drain and Fry the other half for four minutes when the last of the chicken is done remove it to the wire rack to drain and while it's cooling off bump up the temperature on the fryer to 375 degrees the ancient Chinese takeout technique of frying the chicken once at a lower

temperature and then frying it a second time at a higher temperature will give us that extra crispy crust that will stay crunchy even after being Sauced and you know what gets me excited ladies and gentlemen extra crunchiness then when you're back up the tip let's drop the chicken back in the oil for an additional two minutes while the chicken's frying let's finish the sauce heat up a tablespoon of neutral oil in a pan over medium heat then add six dried chilies and you can find these at any Asian grocery store or you can use ourble

chilies which should be available pretty much everywhere one tablespoon of thinly sliced green onion whites two teaspoons of grated garlic and 2 teaspoons of grated Ginger give everything a stir for about 20 to 30 seconds or until the garlic and ginger have become fragrant then whisk the reserved sauce to make sure the corn starch hasn't settled at the bottom and add it to the hot pan you should see it start thickening from the sides and as soon as the entire sauce thickens it's time to add our chickens so toss it in with the sauce and

just make sure every piece is totally coated Now quickly if you want to avoid getting thrown in the brig you've got to serve your general sews with the customary steamed broccoli you can either blanch the florets in salted water for two to three minutes then shock it in ice water like this or toss it in a microwavable safe bowl with three tablespoons of water cover it with plastic wrap and Blitz it for three to four minutes either way is fine and should help you avoid getting court-martialed now let's give it a taste test and see

how we did see this is how general service is supposed to taste the chicken is crispy the sauce is well balanced and hopefully we've restored its Legacy as one of the truly great dishes of American Chinese cuisine now when somebody asks what you had for lunch you can totally say I eat General Tso's chicken and he was not happy about it and if you want to learn how to make classic Chinese takeout lo mein at home be sure to check out this video thanks for watching see you next time