How to Make General Tso’s Chicken, Orange Chicken, and Sesame Chicken

Chinese-American takeout classics are often dismissed as simple comfort food, but executing them to a professional standard requires a deep understanding of texture and sauce balance. In this ChefSteps masterclass, chef Tim Chin deconstructs the three pillars of the takeout menu: General Tso’s chicken, orange chicken, and sesame chicken. Rather than treating these as entirely separate recipes, Chin reveals how they share an identical preparation foundation. By mastering a singular, high-performance frying technique, chefs can streamline their prep line while offering three distinct, high-margin dishes.

The Base: Engineering a Resilient Crunch

The primary technical challenge when serving sauced fried chicken is moisture control. Standard batters quickly turn soggy once tossed in a glaze, ruining the dining experience. Chin solves this by focusing on a multi-stage process of marinating, dredging, and deep-frying. The chicken pieces are first marinated to ensure internal moisture and seasoning, then dredged to create a highly textured, craggy exterior.

This irregular surface area is crucial; it provides pockets that trap the sauce while maintaining structural integrity. When deep-fried correctly, this starch-heavy coating creates an incredibly crisp barrier. Even after being vigorously tossed in a hot wok with a sticky glaze, the chicken retains its signature crunch, making it ideal for both immediate service and high-volume banqueting or takeaway.

The Sauces: Defining the Triad

While the crisp chicken base remains constant, the identity of each dish is forged entirely in the sauce. Chin demonstrates how minor adjustments to a sweet and savoury brown sauce base yield vastly different profiles:

• General Tso’s Chicken: This variant leans on a spicy and savoury profile, defined by the sharp, smoky heat of dried chillies.
• Orange Chicken: To lift the sweetness, this sauce incorporates fresh orange juice, bright orange zest, and dried mandarin peel, adding multiple layers of citrus complexity.
• Sesame Chicken: This version prioritises rich, nutty depth, utilising a double hit of toasted sesame seeds and roasted sesame oil to coat the crispy chicken.

By preparing a consistent fried chicken base, a commercial kitchen can easily execute three distinct menu options to order, using a flat-bottomed wok to flash-toss the protein and glaze together just before service.