General Tsao's Chicken Recipe

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Most Helpful Positive Review

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!

—MARIAT66

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Most Helpful Critical Review

Oct 16, 2003

The chicken came out great. The sauce was extremely thick and took quite a bit of water to make it the correct consistency. Also found the sauce was much better after adding additional brown sugar and a bit of crushed red pepper. Also added streamed broccoli and green peppers.

—TACZYZ

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572 Ratings

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Oct 16, 2003

I *JUST* finished eating dinner where i made this recipe, and i had to run upstairs to give my rave reviews. It was the best General Tsao's I've ever had; better than any restaurant - and this is my normal entree when i eat Chinese. I would have to add,though, that I modified the recipe slightly. I cut up the chicken and marinated it in 1/2 cup each of soy sauce and hot sauce (Texas Pete) for 4-5 hours. I drained off the liquid before performing the chicken preparation portion of the recipe. I substitued 3-4 Tbsp crushed red pepper for the peppers in the recipe, as the dried peppers are not available in my small town. In the future, I would also probably increase the sauce by another half, just because I'd like the chicken a tiny bit saucier, and this sauce quantity was just enough to glaze the chicken. Otherwise, I have to add this this recipe will now become part of my family's repertoire.

—DOUGO23

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Jul 22, 2004

This is a great recipe, but if you want a couple of tweaks that make it much more "restaurant like" as well as little healthier , cut the corn starch in half for the sauce. And drop the MSG. You will create a clearer sauce that won't leave a powdery feel on the upper pallet. The MSG is simply over kill. There is plenty of flavor enhancing going on with the sodium in the soy sauce. Also for a nice decorative touch add a cup of shaved or thin diagonally sliced carrots. Over all this a goooood eats!

—SPADOINKEL

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Oct 12, 2003

Great. Cut down on cornstarch, used less than a 1/4 cup in sauce, and sauteed chicken instead of ddep frying, and used red pepper flakes instead of whole chile peppers. Marvelous!

—CHINADOLL30

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Jan 17, 2006

I have tryed many recipes for the past year trying to perfect this general Tsoas chicken and this is it. It taste just like from the buffet I like to go to.I did use less corn starch in the sauce. Ive made 11 pounds of chicken with this in 5 days and theres none left. I made it 3 times the 2nd and 3rd time i used 2 tablespoons of crushed red pepper instead of chiles and it was better. I will keep this recipe for ever.

—YVETTEJUDD

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Oct 09, 2003

If you cut down on the cornstarch in the marinade (2T was more than enough for me), and add some orange zest (about 1 T), I found that this was a delicious recipe. I would probably go a little less on the sugar for my personal taste as well. The other thing I did was delete the MSG with no adverse change in the flavor.

—TMANDE

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Jan 20, 2007

Love the recipe, but definitely had to cut down the cornstarch/add more liquid. I didn't use white wine vinegar, instead I just used regular white vinegar. Turned out great! I tried it twice already and the second one was waaaay better than the first since I know to cut down the cornstarch. And very important, for best results, make the sauce and fry the chicken separately. Pour the sauce over the chicken when it's ready to serve.

—Liyana

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Nutrition

Calories
842 kcal
42%

Carbohydrates
60.7 g
20%

Cholesterol
167 mg
56%

Fat
40.5 g
62%

Fiber
2 g
8%

Protein
56.5 g
113%

Sodium
2057 mg
82%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Nutritional Information

General Tsao's Chicken

Serving Size: 1/6 of a recipe
Servings Per Recipe: 6
Amount Per Serving
** Calories: 842
** Calories from Fat: 365

% Daily Value *
** Total Fat 40.5g 62 %
** Saturated Fat 5.8g 29 %
** Cholesterol 167mg 56 %
** Sodium 2057mg 82 %
** Potassium 785mg 22 %
** Total Carbohydrates 60.7g 20 %
** Dietary Fiber 2g 8 %
** Protein 56.5g 113 %
** Sugars 26.4g
** Vitamin A 16 %
** Vitamin C 17 %
** Calcium 8 %
** Iron 33 %
** Thiamin 20 %
** Niacin 289 %
** Vitamin B6 84 %
** Magnesium 31 %
** Folate 22 %

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
** Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.
(-) Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.