Easy General Tso's Chicken Without Vinegar & Hoisin
With this easy General Tso's chicken recipe, let's learn all the restaurants' secrets to make the most favorite Chinese food takeout.
Servings: 4 people
Calories per serving: 573kcal
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken thighs boneless, skinless, cut into bites size (2x2 inches)
- ¼ tsp Kosher salt
- ⅛ tsp black pepper
Beer Batter
- 1 ¼ c cold beer or sparkling water/club soda
- ¼ tsp Kosher salt
- 1 c AP flour
- ¼ c cornstarch
- 1 tsp baking powder
General Tso Sauce
- ½ c light soy sauce
- ½ c water
- ½ c pineapple juice
- ½ c sugar
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1 piece ginger 2x2 inches piece, minced
Slurry
- 1 tbsp potato starch or corn starch
- ¼ c water
Others
- 1 head small broccoli cut into bite sites, boiled or steamed
- 6 whole dry chilies or fresh chilies
- steamed rice as needed
- vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
Make the batter & marinate chicken
- In a large mixing bowl, combine all batter ingredients, mix well and let the batter rest for at least 30 minutes.
- Marinate chicken with salt and pepper in a medium mixing bowl for 30 minutes.
Make General Tso sauce
- In a small saucepan, combine all ingredients for General Tso sauce, bring to the boiling point, then simmer for 5 minutes.
- Carefully add the slurry mixture into the sauce, slowly stir and cook for one more minute. Then turn off the heat, and set the sauce aside for later use.
Fry chicken
- Fill a large frying pot with 2-3 cups of vegetable oil. Dip chicken cubes in batter, then carefully put them in hot frying oil. Fry for 8-10 minutes. Don't overcrowd the pot.
- Drain fried chicken pieces on a large plate lined with oil-absorbed paper.
Make General Tso's chicken
- Add about ¼ c of the sauce to a large cooking pan with 2-3 pieces of red chilies over medium-high heat. Then add ten pieces of crispy fried chicken to the pan. Give the pan a few shakes to coat the chicken thoroughly with the sauce.
- Serve General Tso's chicken immediately with broccoli and steamed rice. Enjoy!
Notes
Storage instructions
- Store leftover General Tso sauce in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
- Store leftover fried chicken (without coating with the sauce) in a zip loc or container in the refrigerator for up to two days.
- It is not advised to store General Tso's chicken overnight; thus, the sauce can make the chicken really soggy and not taste good. It's best to eat them right away.
Tips for making the best General Tso's chicken
- To avoid soggy chicken, first, the frying oil must reach 350F. Second, you should not overcrowd the frying pot/pan. There must always be extra room for the chicken to float around. I fried 1lb of chicken in 3 batches, and each batch had 8 to 10 chicken pieces.
- Coat the chicken with the sauce as fast as possible, then serve immediately. The quicker you are, the crispier the chicken will stay.
Gluten-free option
- Skip the batter. Instead, add about 1 cup of tapioca starch to the chicken and mix, and ensure all pieces are fully coated. Also, remember to shake off any excess before adding them to the frying oil.
- The chicken will never be as crispy as the batter method.
Nutrition
Calories: 573kcalCarbohydrates: 69gProtein: 26gFat: 19gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 111mgSodium: 2115mgPotassium: 458mgFiber: 2gSugar: 29gVitamin A: 488IUVitamin C: 5mgCalcium: 96mgIron: 3mg