Friesland, a province of the Netherlands, is where this Frisian sugar bread dish originates. It has beautiful marbling of cinnamon-coated pearl sugar clusters throughout and is softer than a cloud. When eaten hot out of the oven, this loaf is simple to make, authentic, and downright amazing. For a harder texture, alternatively, completely cool.
| Prep Time: | 25 mins |
| Cook Time: | 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 55 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
Ingredients
- 4 cups vegetable oil for frying
- 3 large eggs
- ½ cup cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 ½ cups white sugar
- ¼ cup distilled white vinegar
- ¼ cup rice vinegar
- ¼ cup dry sherry
- 2 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 12 whole dried red chile peppers, or to taste
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger, or to taste
Instructions
- Cook chicken: Heat oil in a deep fryer or large saucepan to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
- Beat eggs in a large bowl until smooth. Mix in 1/2 cup plus 2 teaspoons cornstarch until no lumps remain. Stir in chicken pieces until evenly coated.
- Drop battered chicken pieces into hot oil, one by one. Cook until chicken is golden brown and begins to float, about 3 minutes. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate.
- Make sauce: Combine sugar, vinegars, sherry, soy sauce, and garlic in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until sugar is dissolved and sauce has thickened to the consistency of light pancake syrup, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and keep sauce warm.
- Heat oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir chiles and ginger in hot oil until ginger begins to brown, about 30 seconds. Use a slotted spoon to remove chiles and ginger to warm sauce; stir until combined.
- Cook and stir-fry chicken in the same wok until very crispy and dark golden brown. Serve with sauce.
- The nutrition data for this recipe includes the full amount of the batter ingredients. The actual amount of the batter consumed will vary.
- We have determined the nutritional value of oil for frying based on a retention value of 10% after cooking. The exact amount will vary depending on cooking time and temperature, ingredient density, and the specific type of oil used.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 829 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 92 g |
| Cholesterol | 189 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Protein | 36 g |
| Saturated Fat | 6 g |
| Sodium | 689 mg |
| Sugars | 50 g |
| Fat | 37 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Fry recipe was great. Definitely agree cutting the sugar down, maybe even to half. If not, upping the salt/soy sauce would help. I also added 1tsp of oyster sauce as I didn’t have fish sauce.
This is the first time I’ve ever tried making General Taos chicken and it turned out fabulous. My husband and I loved it. I followed the recipe. I used dried chili peppers to taste, we like a lot of zing, and I added a small bag of frozen stir fry vegetables. Fantastic! This recipe is a keeper. Thanks for sharing!
The basic recipe turned out great for me. I made a few changes including substituting Chinese rice wine (Shaoxing wine) for the sherry. I also added a little vodka to bump up the crispiness and added some chili garlic crisp and some green onion only because I like having them in my Chinese dishes.
Oh My Goodness!! we can’t find decent Chinese food here in TN! Well that was until I found this recipe oh my yes please perfect and what I’ve been craving, no I’m not pregnant just in need of a General Tso
This was a hit with my picky family. I did make some changes to this version. I used this for the batter: 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 cup cornstarch 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking powder 3/4 cup club soda I used cauliflower ( I don’t eat meat)and chicken I used this for the sauce: 1/4 cup orange juice 3 tablespoons sugar 3 tablespoons soy sauce 3 tablespoons vegetable broth 2 tablespoons rice vinegar 2 teaspoons sesame oil 2 teaspoons cornstarch I added the orange peel from fresh squeeze to this sauce and let it simmer. After deep frying the meat and sauteing the veggies I let them drain on a papertowel. Then for each plate I sauted meat, veggies, and a little sauce to coat. Then served over rice with a little more sauce.
it was good
Easy, excellent , super tasty! Thank you!
My family loved this! All the Chinese take out joints in town are closed due to Covid-19 and we wanted General Tso’s so badly that I went for it. The frying in batches was a little time consuming but it was an easy recipe to make! I didnt have an essential ingredient – dried Thai Chili peppers, but I got by with a substitution of chili powder and some whole jalapenos.
Hubby and I devoured this in 5 minutes!! The sauce wasn’t as thick as I thought it might be… I feel like next time I will make a thickener to make it stickier. I served it on a bowl of sticky rice. Despite how much sugar is in it, it wasn’t as sweet as I thought it might be… I think the vinegar negates it a bit. I will definitely make this again – it was very easy to make!
Make sure I’m not using replacement ingredients.
Very good!
I followed the recipe and it turned out great! Good flavor kids loved it.
Omg I didn’t think I could make this. I amazed myself. This is so delicious.
This got RAVES by the family. It was easy and delicious. I will definitely be making this again.
First time making this dish and this recipe really nails it. Didn’t have the red peppers so just threw in pepper flakes and it was just right. Sweet and spicy. Fried the chicken pieces twice and they came out slightly crunchy on the outside but tender on the inside. Thanks for the recipe!
I really enjoyed this! I’ve tried making Chinese food before and the texture of the chicken and the sauce have always eluded me. The chicken was tender on the inside and crunchy on the outside, and I enjoyed the sauce too. I do agree with other reviewers that the sauce got very sticky and hard after cooling a little, so I might experiment with cornstarch next time. I didn’t have chilies or sherry, so I substituted crushed red pepper and used a smaller measurement of vanilla (as suggested on another site to substitute for sherry) and I thought the flavor was great. The kids weren’t stoked, but all they ever want to eat is macaroni and cheese. I plan to make it again for friends next time around!
I would make this again. It was incredibly simple to make, and tasted very good. I did not have a Wok, so I did not do the final step of cooking the chicken until it was crispy after deep frying it. Still delicious.
My Family loves General Tsao’s and this recipe rocks! I leave out some of the sauce with out Peppers for my youngest son
I use this as the base for my General Tsaos. The ratio of vinegars, sherry and soy works very well. For the love of god do not even think about putting as much sugar in as she does. I use about 20% of the sugar (sweeten to taste) and then thicken it with cornstarch. The only other change I make is to put diced ginger in the sauce as well.
Overall, I liked the result, but the sauce was thin until we added more sugar and a some cornstarch to thicken it. The additional time let the flavors of the peppers, garlic and ginger brighten and strengthen, so that with an extra splash of soy sauce. In the future, I’ll change the order of preparation. I’m thinking of simmering the vegetables in the soy, sherry, and vinegar while I’m frying the chicken, then add the sugar (double the recommended amount) as my final step.
This was awesome!!! I just finished cooking it and my family loved it!! I didn’t use a lot of peppers but apparently they would have preferred if I used none at all…..next time I’ll make sauce with and without peppers (I like them). But I will definetly make this again. No more chinese take out for me 🙂