Reviewed: Oct. 3, 2006

Way too much cornstarch. I should have read the reviews and backed off it. The flavor was great, but the consistency was way too sticky because of the cornstarch. Also, I just used frozen popcorn chicken from Costco; makes this recipe a snap.

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Mmmkay

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Ipswich, Suffolk, England, U.K.

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Reviewed: Oct. 2, 2006

We loved this dish. If you can, get someone to help you in the kitchen. Hubby made the rice and chopped the chicken. That was quite helpful as this was a three step process to make. I didn't have enough corn starch on hand so I used some Bisquik to supplement a bit. I did only use three tablespoons for the first part and I am not sure how much for the breading. I think a little more breading makes this more of an authentic tasting dish. (and we like the breading, let's face it... if you are making this, you are not watching what you are eating too much.) :) The dish was great. I felt like a "gourmet cook" due to the nature of the dish. The flavors were at three different levels we decided: sweet (from the sugar), spicy (from the sun dried chilli peppers), and the ginger really cleanses the pallate (sp?) in between each bite. Really great and makes you feel like you are a great cook! TFTP

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cavoe

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Tampa, Florida, USA

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Reviewed: Sep. 13, 2006

Wow, to be honest, I was a little bit skeptical and thought that this recipe would just turn out okay. I'm very picky when it comes to Asian dishes but I'm just so glad that I gave it a try coz' it turned out to be a really tasty dish. It really is similar to the General Tso's chicken I used to have. I did however, halved the recipe since I wanted to make sure first that this would be a success. Doubled the garlic called for it, reduced the amount of vinegar, stir fried and NOT deep fried the chicken, and everything else just followed what the recipe says. I also didn't put dry chilli coz' I didn't have any, instead I put a little bit of ground chilli (the kind you found at Asian grocery store) and put black pepper powder as desired. After the chicken and sauce were mixed and thoroughly combined, I drizzled some sesame oil into it. This totally made the dish even better!!! You gotta try it, absolutely delicious. =)

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The_Martins

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Jakarta, Jakarta Raya, Indonesia

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Reviewed: Aug. 30, 2006

This was so good! I followed the recipe exactly, and it worked out well. Next time, as a time saver, I will omit the coating and frying of the chicken, and just pan fry the chicken without the breading. This was easy and simple to make. The entire time I was making this dish, I kept telling myself that the dish was going to turn out bad, but it did't! I surprised myself, and don't become alarmed if the chicken looks like goo, it works out! In short, followed the directions exactly and loved every last bite. After adding the sauce to the wok, I did have to add water. LOVED IT, LOVED IT, LOVED IT!!

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SAMPOW1

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Reviewed: Aug. 17, 2006

I can't believe I made this and how great it turned out!!!!! OMG!!! I subsituted boneless chicken thighs for breasts just because that is how I have had it in the past. Great!!!! I also decreased the corn starch as everyone else did in the sauce and with the chicken. I think next time I may use brown sugar and decrease the vinegar in the sauce as I lean toward the sweeter side. Also, I only had red wine vinegar in the house. It worked great. I omitted the peppers as my family does not care for hot & spicy foods. Mixing the ingredients for the batter & chicken was really globby and when the recipe indicated to add a cup of oil I thought this wasn't going to turn out but the batter did stay on the chicen and keep your chicken pieces fairly well seperated. I was really amazed!!! A little time put in but definitely worth it. Will be making again! Thanks for the recipe!!

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KIMMIE5474

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Parkville, Maryland, USA

Living In: York, Pennsylvania, USA

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Reviewed: Aug. 17, 2006

Delicious!

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Jasmine

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Waynesboro, Mississippi, USA

Living In: Columbia, South Carolina, USA

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Reviewed: Jul. 25, 2006

My husband gives this a 10!! I took the advice of several other reviewers and decreased the amount of cornstarch (3 Tbls),sugar (1/2 C), and vinegar (1/8 C) in the sauce, but added 1 tsp of chili flakes instead of the peppers at the end. Also, I cut out the deep frying, as we are trying to cut out the fat in our diets. I just simply stir fried the chicken in a bit of vegetable oil and added the sauce and green onions. We didn't even miss the heavy breading! We served it over steamed rice and had some steamed snow peas to round out the meal. I'll definitely be adding this figure friendly version of our favorite take-out to our regular menu!

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MARIAT66

Cooking Level: Expert

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Reviewed: Jul. 24, 2006

It's hard to find a recipe for General Tsao's, so I was skeptical - but this was very good!! The red peppers I had weren't all that spicy, so I'll need to look for something different, but the recipe itself is a great one. I didn't use a deep fryer, just added oil to a pan, it still turned out right! Thanks - my hubby really enjoyed it!

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BABYKATIE30

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Reviewed: Jul. 22, 2006

This was OK, not worth the money or time. I prefer the General Tsao's I get in the International District.

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Tara Holt

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Reviewed: Jul. 15, 2006

this was a lot of fun to make, and being vegetarian, i could only taste the sauce (i made it for my husband). i thought, though it was really good, something was just a little off, but at this point i'm not sure what. my husabnd wouldn't eat any, in the end, because he said it had "too much sauce". i'm going to take the leftovers to my parents, where i can get a better review. i'll probably do this again.

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lockesmom

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Houston, Texas, USA

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Reviewed: Jun. 30, 2006

This is a really tasty recipe. I followed the suggestions to cut down on the cornstarch, and the texture and consistency of the chicken was wonderful. I have to admit that I was skeptical at first because the chicken looks like a big glob of goo before it's fried! The sauce was rather thick at first, but it's easy to get to your desired consistency by adding water or pineapple juice, etc. I'm watching my sugar intake, so I substituted the white sugar for splenda, and nobody could tell! The one thing I'll change the next time I make it is to cut way back on the amount of soy sauce that the chicken is mixed with... the chicken was too salty for my tastes. This recipe is definitely a keeper and will be pulled out on comfort food nights!

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euclidus

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Oberlin, Ohio, USA

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Reviewed: Jun. 2, 2006

In the words of Rachael Ray, YUM-O! Per other reviewers, I made the following changes: doubled the sauce, using only 3T of cornstarch, and that was a little too much; used only 1/4 c white wine vinegar when doubling the recipe calls for 1/2 cup; omitted the MSG for health concerns; used only 1/2 cup of cornstarch for the chicken; used 1/2T of crushed red pepper flakes. My husband who does not like ANY spice, said this made it waaaay tooooo spicy, so next time I'll use less or just omit it. The recipe probably didn't need it anyway; it was so packed with flavor. Also, I didn't add any oil to help separate the chicken as stated in step 2; after all the work I'd done, I just flat out didn't feel like it LOL! I agree with another reviewer that it probably didn't NEED to be deep fried (as I did); it would cut A LOT of work, not to mention fat and calories by omitting the deep frying. I served this with Beef Egg Rolls (submitted by Trisha Caudill, this site) and House Fried Rice (submitted by Lynda, this site). All in all, this recipe was wonderfully tasty and better than the last serving I had at a restaurant because I KNOW what ingredients are going in to it. Thanks so much Shaun!

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DivineHealth7

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Charleston, South Carolina, USA

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Reviewed: May 26, 2006

I followed the suggestions of other reviewers and replaced the 1/2 cup of cornstarch with 3 Tbsp and the 1 cup of cornstarch with 1/2 cup and I can't imagine how this recipe would have turned out had I used the amounts listed...it would have been terrible. I also omitted the MSG because I don't cook with it and in the end, we didn't notice that it was gone. The only other change I made was that I used about 1 Tbsp of dried chili flakes instead of whole chili's and it worked out just fine. 1 Tbsp makes this a VERY fiery dish....a little too fiery for my taste, so next time I make it (and there definitely will be a next time), I will reduce the amount of chili flakes to 1/2 Tbsp. This is a really great dish...pretty close to our local take-out place. Thanks for the great recipe Shaun!

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kelcampbell

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada

Living In: Kemptville, Ontario, Canada

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Reviewed: May 16, 2006

This is a EXCELLENT DISH, This is the same as the dish I ate at my favorite Chinese Restaurant, The Chinese Master Chef I know has the dish prepared the same way. This is a true GENERAL TSAO DELICACY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks, Shaun Wackerly, This is a 5 STAR Dish *****!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Chuck

Cooking Level: Professional

Home Town: West Chester, Pennsylvania, USA

Living In: Summerville, South Carolina, USA

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Reviewed: May 14, 2006

This is a good recipe to build from but it definitely uses too much cornstarch and too much sugar and vinegar. I also think I would use chicken thigh meat instead of breast and I would also skip the deep frying part of it too. I would just stir-fry without having coated with egg and cornstarch mixture. The sauce has a really good overall flavor and that is what really gets it the four stars. I also think that the addition of celery and nuts would be nice.

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SARAHCCOONNY

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Frederick, Maryland, USA

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Reviewed: Apr. 30, 2006

Lots of work, but it was worth it.

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Jeffrey

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Mosinee, Wisconsin, USA

Living In: Zeeland, Michigan, USA

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Reviewed: Apr. 14, 2006

I think this is a good base for a recipe, but I didn't care for the strong taste. Maybe I used too much ginger and should have backed off with the vinegar. Not sure where I went wrong. The chicken was really good by its self. My hubby requested more of the chicken. Will keep looking.

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cookn4five

Cooking Level: Expert

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Reviewed: Mar. 30, 2006

I'm really impressed with this recipe. I successfully halved it, and substituted red wine vinegar for white wine vineagar (as I didn't have any WWV), and subbed crushed red peppers and ground chili peppers for the whole chili peppers. I omitted the MSG. The only thing I would do differently next time is cut back on the amount of green onions by about 1/2 or a little more. Also, be warned that throughout the entire process you may be thinking "this is not going well"; it will be ok in the end! :)

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Fujiko

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Mandan, North Dakota, USA

Living In: Sherwood, Oregon, USA

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Reviewed: Mar. 22, 2006

I loved this recipe! It was a little process but in the end it was yummy. My kids did like the chicken plain after it was fried without the sauce.

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whatever girl

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Longview, Washington, USA

Living In: Oceanside, California, USA

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Reviewed: Mar. 21, 2006

I cook almost daily for my picky husband, but he didn't think homemade General Tsao's was possible. I prooved him wrong with this recipe! I did cut the corn starch as noted in the sauce, but used the recipe amount for the chicken chunks. Don't worry if the chicken is kinda glue like before frying, it will come out crispy and taste awesome!

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ZSOFIAWULF

Cooking Level: Expert

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