We all love chicken. A survey shows that worldwide, we consume approximately 8 billion chickens per year. If we do the maths, that is roughly 21,917,808 chickens per day. That is a lot! And, of all those yummy dishes, general Tso and Sesame chicken are deemed one of the best.
Now, have questions like, which one is the most delicious and what is Tso or Sesame chicken in your mind? If you seek the answer to these questions, then our general tso VS sesame chicken guide is perfect for you. It contains all the relevant information regarding the topic. Therefore, let us dig in!
What Is General Tso Chicken?
The General Tso Chicken is a Chinese dish. It is considered an entrée, so it is served as the main dish on many Chinese occasions. Anyways, we shall now be talking about the taste. It is a variant of fried chicken that many consider one of the best chicken dishes.
However, it is cooked with a special sauce that gives it a sweet taste with a spicy kick. Now, you can customize how spicy you want the chicken to be in the first place. Therefore, we can assure you that it will be an exceptional dish for you for all you spicy food-lovers out there.
What Is Sesame Chicken?
Another similar dish and on par with the Tso is the sesame chicken. Parallel to the Tso, this is also a genre of fried chicken. Nonetheless, it might lack the peppery hit. Instead, it has a very soothing and earthly-slash-nutty flavor, which is made yummier with the high sweetness of the dish.
Besides, Sesame chicken comes with more complementary vegetables like broccoli and carrots. They give more shades to the course and enhance the overall taste of the dish even further. However, unlike its Chinese rival, this dish is a concoction from the United States.
You will find this is in most of the Chinese restaurants in the USA. In short, the USA took a dish from China and gave it their magical touch to the recipe.
General Tso VS Sesame Chicken
Since we have a good idea regarding the two meals, we can now compare the two legends. Here we shall be carrying out an in-depth inspection regarding the topic to provide a detailed comparison between the two. Enough chit-chatting! Shall we get started?
Preparations
Well, we have already stated that both of these sensational dishes are similar in many ways. However, they do that their differences. One of them is how both the dishes are prepared and cooked.
Sesame Chicken
To cook it, you need chicken breast chopped up, eggs, cornstarch, and flour. You need to bathe the meat in eggs first, then flour, and lastly, in cornstarch. After that, you can drop the chicken in oil.
By the way, it is not necessary to use breast meat all the time. You can opt for thighs or any piece of meat you prefer. Anyways, the real magic lies in the sauce. So, for that, you need a bunch of ingredients. Hence, bear with us. Here is the list:
- A teaspoonful of vegetable oil
- A teaspoonful of diced fresh garlic
- One-fourth cup of honey
- One-third cup of soy sauce (if reduced Sodium is a choice, then use it)
- Half a cup of ketchup
- Three tablespoonfuls of brown sugar
- Two tablespoonfuls of rice vinegar
- A tablespoonful of toasted sesame oil
- Two teaspoonfuls of cornstarch
- Two tablespoonfuls of sesame seeds
- Two tablespoonfuls of cut green onions
Using these ingredients, you shall be making the sauce. Now, once the chicken is fried and the sauce is done, drizzle the made sauce onto the chicken. Make sure you are pouring an ample amount. After that, sprinkle some sesame seeds, and you should be good to go!
General Tso Chicken
The chicken cooking is exactly the same. However, the sauce is totally different. To make fried chicken, you will have to follow the same old procedures. Take the desired chicken piece, apply eggs, flour, and cornstarch. Lastly, dip the chicken in oil.
If you require healthier chicken, you can dip it in the oil for a little while and then take it out when the color has turned golden. Then soak up the oil using tissue. Nevertheless, the difference between the two items is the sauce. To make the Tso sauce, these are the things that you need:
- Two teaspoonfuls of vegetable oil
- Two teaspoonfuls of finely cut fresh garlic
- Half a teaspoonful of crushed red pepper flakes or any peppery recipe to enhance the spice factor
- Three-fourth cup of low sodium chicken broth
- Two tablespoonfuls of hoisin sauce
- Two tablespoonfuls of brown sugar
- One-fourth cupful of low sodium soy sauce
- A tablespoonful of cornstarch
Once you have all the necessary items for the sauce, let us start cooking. Heat the vegetable oil in a saucepan. Add the garlic and flakes for 30 seconds. Then pour in the hoisin, broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, and cornstarch. Keep whisking for two to three minutes. Your sauce is ready to be poured.
Drizzle the sauce over the fried chicken, and you should end up with spicy-sweet Tso chicken.
Flavor
If the sauce is different, then the taste of the dishes will be very different as well. Are you confused about how fried chicken can taste different? Well, the sauce is the very essence that gives the chicken its taste. So, the difference in the sauce gives it a very distinct feel to your tastebuds.
Tso Chicken
When it comes to taste, the Tso hits hard. You see, a handsome amount of chili flakes or any spicy ingredient is used in its making. Thus, resulting in that heated kick. If you want, you can increase the spiciness by adding either tabasco sauce or any other spicy sauce.
However, if you are not a fan of spice, you can reduce the intensity by either adding more honey or reducing chili. But even if you don’t like spicy foods, the hoisin sauce should cancel out the spices and let you enjoy the dish to your fullest.
Sesame Chicken
Now, if you do not like your food too spicy, then you will love this one. It has a very mild and sweet taste.
You see, the honey used in its sauce gives it a very sugary flavor, which, when coupled with the seasoning of the chicken, will provide you with a dish that feels like it is straight from the heavens. Also, it has a very nutty and earthly taste. The reason behind this is the sesame.
While making the sauce, you will be using sesame oil, and later on, you should add sesame seeds to the unit. As a result, you will get an exceptionally yummy fried chicken that tastes soothingly sweet and leaves a mild essence on the back of your tongue.
Origin
Now, many might think that both of these dishes have a similar origin. Well, sadly, that is not true! They have entirely different birthplaces, which greatly influence the taste and texture of the dishes. You see, this happens because nationality determines the spices, style of cooking, and whatnot.
Sesame Chicken
Sesame chicken is pretty similar to Honey Sesame chicken. Anyways, the dish has originated in the United States. You see, the people of the USA don’t like spicy foods that much. That is why they came up with the sweeter and earthlier tasting version of the dish.
There is a high possibility that you will end up ordering this dish whenever you visit a Chinese restaurant in the States.
Tso Chicken
Now, the Tso chicken is spicy. The amount of spice used in the dish gives us a hint about its source, Asia. To be precise, it was created in China. You see, the Chinese wanted to add a more flavorful and hot twist to the conventional fried Chicken.
You will find several authentic Chinese restaurants using this as the main dish served with rice, chow mein noodles, zucchini noodles, quinoa, etc.
Final Verdict
As you can see, both of these dishes are similar in many ways. Also, they are different in more than a few ways and have their own unique flavors and textures that you can enjoy. Now, for the general tso VS sesame chicken part, we would say that it is a tie.
You see, both of these dishes might seem similar but are separate from each other. That is why diverse people with different preferences might like one more than the other. Yes, you can enjoy foods, but they are different in several crucial aspects. Therefore, titling one of them as better than the other is not possible. All you can do is love them all!
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