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Saturday, June 7, 2025

Common Tso’s Shrimp Recipe – We’re not Martha


When you love ordering Common Tso’s rooster out of your native takeout spot, you should strive my make-at-home Common Tso’s Shrimp! Candy and spicy sauce coats crispy shrimp for a simple dinner that is far more scrumptious than takeout.

When you’ve frequented your native Chinese language restaurant, likelihood is you have seen Common Tso’s rooster (or tofu, and so forth.) on the menu.

Common Tso’s sauce is a candy and spicy sauce that is highly regarded in American Chinese language cooking. It is made with a base of soy sauce and sugar (or honey/agave), combined with with rice vinegar, garlic, ginger and dried chilis, and thickened with a contact of cornstarch.

It isn’t a conventional Hunan sauce and is a Chinese language-American invention that is been tailor-made for American’s tastebuds.

Regardless of the actual fact you will not discover Common Tso’s sauce in China or different Asian international locations, it will probably nonetheless be a enjoyable sauce to make from scratch at residence. Particularly when served with shrimp!

Here is all the things you should make this Common Tso shrimp (please see the recipe card on the backside of this publish for ingredient quantities and full recipe directions):

  • Shrimp: peeled and deveined with tails off
  • Cornstarch
  • Salt & pepper
  • Vegetable oil: or the cooking oil of your selection
  • Garlic
  • Recent ginger
  • Hen or vegetable broth
  • Soy sauce
  • Granulated sugar
  • Rice vinegar
  • Hoisin sauce
  • Recent or rehydrated dried arbol chilies: you can too substitute with chili paste, like a sambal oelek
  • Sesame oil
  • Sesame seeds: for garnish
  • Scallions: for garnish

Fast and straightforward: It is simple sufficient to make for a weeknight dinner, but additionally spectacular sufficient to serve to visitors with out stress.

Balanced sauce: the combo of soy, sugar, rice vinegar and a contact of hoisin delivers an ideal sweet-tangy taste profile. The recent ginger provides a brightness.

Warmth management: you possibly can determine on the spice stage of your sauce by adjusting the sort and quantity of chilies that you simply add.

Versatile entree: Common Tso’s shrimp may be served in so many alternative methods with so many alternative sides. Concepts under!

Coating the shrimp in a light-weight layer of cornstarch and cooking them in sizzling oil, leads to a fantastically crispy shrimp.

After making the sauce, you will need to add the shrimp in and simmer simply till heated by means of.

The sauce needs to be thick sufficient that it clings to the shrimp.

  • Dry totally: you should definitely pat shrimp utterly dry with paper towel earlier than tossing shrimp in cornstarch (step 1). Ensuring they’re utterly dry will permit them to crisp up higher when cooking.
  • Work in batches if obligatory: crowding the pan will drop the temperature and result in soggy shrimp. In case your wok or skillet isn’t large enough for all of your shrimp, prepare dinner them in two smaller batches.
  • Use excessive warmth: sear the shrimp over medium-high warmth so that they prepare dinner shortly with out steaming; 1–2 minutes per facet is loads.
  • End sauce with sesame oil: drizzling sesame oil in on the finish retains the toasty taste vivid (it will probably get bitter if it cooks too lengthy).
  • Add garnish: chopped scallions and sesame seeds make the proper Common Tso shrimp garnish.
Closeup view of General Tso's shrimp over rice with green beans in bowl.Closeup view of General Tso's shrimp over rice with green beans in bowl.

I used dried arbol chiles that I rehydrated for my sauce and with my 4 chiles, it is a barely spicy dish. It is undoubtedly not too spicy, however has a light-weight warmth to it, such as you’d discover in most eating places.

Nonetheless, if you’d like a milder or spicier dish, listed here are some concepts:

  • Milder: Take away the seeds and membranes from 1–2 arbol chilies so that you get the chile taste with out all the warmth. Alternatively, simply use 1 teaspoon of sambal oelek.
  • Further spicy: Go away the seeds in your chiles and add an additional chopped arbol pepper an additional teaspoon of chili paste. You may as well fell free to complete the shrimp with a drizzle of chili oil.
Landscape overhead view of a bowl of General Tso's shrimp over white rice with green beans with chopsticks and red chili peppers.Landscape overhead view of a bowl of General Tso's shrimp over white rice with green beans with chopsticks and red chili peppers.

In fact, Common Tso’s rooster is usually served over white rice and that is how I prefer to serve my shrimp, too. However since you make it at residence, you possibly can serve it any means you need!

Listed here are some concepts for what to serve Common Tso’s shrimp with:

You may as well be at liberty to easily add these shrimp atop a inexperienced salad.

Common Tso’s Shrimp Recipe – We’re not MarthaCommon Tso’s Shrimp Recipe – We’re not Martha

When you love cooking shrimp for dinner, try all my straightforward shrimp recipes. I particularly love these shrimp poke bowls and shrimp and feta orzo salad.

And you should definitely remark under should you make this Common Tso’s shrimp for your loved ones!

📖 Recipe

Closeup view of a bowl of General Tso's shrimp over white rice with green beans.

Common Tso’s Shrimp

When you love ordering Common Tso’s rooster out of your native takeout spot, you should strive my make-at-home Common Tso’s Shrimp! Candy and spicy sauce coats crispy shrimp for a simple dinner that is far more scrumptious than takeout.

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