General Tso's Chicken Quick Chinese Fakeaway

General Tso's Chicken, a fab Chinese takeout recipe featuring fried chicken in a glorious sweet and sour sauce with a hint of hoisin sauce.

10-15 minutes prep time and 10 minutes cook time also makes this dish way quicker than the delivery drive can get to you!

Fiery Chinese Fakeaway Fried Chicken

General Tso and his chicken is very much one of those modern-day dishes with a hotly debated "history".

There are a whole host of these dishes, chicken tikka masala, the balti curry and even the classic pasta carbonara existed nowhere by those names prior to WWII.

General Tso's Chicken is a dish that appeared in the 1970s, and it is definitely a US-centric Chinese takeaway dish. It is certainly not one that appeared on menus in Chinese establishments in the UK when I was growing up.

But it speaks to me in so many ways, so many of my favourite flavours and cooking techniques.

Battered and fried chicken in a sauce with a sweet and sour vibe may sound similar sweet and sour pork, but it has more in common with my dragon chicken recipe.

The batter is not as crisp because it is combined with the sauce, leading to a wonderful blend of crispy and almost chewy.

The sauce rocks hoisin sauce, an ingredient that appears in my Chinese spare ribs and dan dan noodles. This gets mellowed with more salty soy sauce and the rather lovely Chinkiang vinegar.

Add some fiery dried chillies, and we are approaching my food heaven.

If you are looking for something similar but with less of the hassle of frying, check out my honey chilli chicken recipe.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to fry the chicken?

For this recipe, yes, I have tried the usual suspects to replace frying when I was developing this recipe, and they all disappointed me.

I usually use a deep-fat fryer, although my second favourite method is to use a wok. I use a sugar thermometer to monitor the temperature because they usually have a clip to safely secure them

What is Chinkiang vinegar?

It is hands down my favourite Chinese vinegar; it is a black vinegar and has a more interesting and complex flavour than normal rice vinegar.

It features in recipes as diverse as my teriyaki prawns to my BBQ pork ramen. You can substitute for normal rice vinegar if you wish.

Can this be made in advance?

No. This is definitely a dish that needs to be served immediately, and it does not reheat well.

However, all of the prep can be done in advance! The sauce and the batter are absolutely fine being made up to 24 hours in advance. Just give them a good stir before you get started.

Serving Suggestions

More often than not, some plainly cooked white rice is the partner of choice for my General Tso's Chicken recipe. But it is also great with egg fried rice.

When it comes to food, I have no "guilty treats", food should never be 'owt to be ashamed of! I grew up loving the chips from the Chinese takeaway, that's fries for my US readers.

In honour of that love, I often serve this with a potato side dish. I usually do my crispy fried potatoes. But if I am feeling particularly up for it, I will do my chippy chips, although I will not add the vinegar.

And finally, a bit of love for noodles, this recipe is great with some simple soy sauce noodles.

Equipment Used

I only mention brands of equipment if I think that they make a material difference to a recipe. But if you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments section below the recipe.

• Hob/stovetop.
• A wok or deep fat fryer for frying the chicken.
• 28cm or 11" frying pan if you do not want to drain the hot wok of oil.
• Chopping board.
• Kicthen knife.
• Slotted, stirring and serving spoons.
• Mixing bowls.
• Weighing scales and measuring spoons.