GENERAL TSO'S CHICKEN ??????????

SparkPoints: (108,705)
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12/4/12 10:29 A

Thank you all ! I will probably still eat it at times but not so often and i will try the recipe that was posted

current weight: 156.0

168 159.75 151.5 143.25

135

Posts: 3,250
11/21/12 9:56 A

It's pretty unhealthy... They dump like, a pound of sugar into the wok back in the kitchen. ^^;

Posts: 4,644
11/21/12 8:58 A

also keep in mind the chicken is deep fried and then soaked in a ton of sauce. So 6 pieces and lots of calories? Oh yeah.

current weight: 250.0

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130

Posts: 10,776
11/21/12 6:56 A

sounds about right. you have to remember a few things here. in terms of portions, chinese food is served family style. my local take outs all offer quart containers, yes, 32oz containers for their main dishes. which doesn't include the at least 22oz for the container of rice. which means when you, the hubby, the son and the daughter all order something different, you're ordering a grand total of 16 generous portions. so yes, 2000 sounds about right because you're talking about not a single portion of food here. you're talking about the calories in a quart container of something. and something that was cooked in a fair amount of oil to begin with. so if you're only eating 1/4 of that, then you're really eating 500 cals. but if you're eating the whole thing, that's much closer to that 2000 cal mark. even the higher end pan-asian places use at least 22oz containers and they make sure to fill them.

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11/21/12 6:29 A

I made a makeover of the wonderful sesame chicken recipe here on Spark. My version doesn't add any sugar (just uses some honey) and throws in chili flakes and teriyaki sauce to give it more that general tsao's feel.

recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?
recipe=2243302

Lot of chicken and a large serving size so its 340 calories and 46g protein. Then just serve it over some stir fry veggies and maybe some rice.

But yeah, the traditional buffet way of frying chicken, covering it in flour and sugar, frying again, then coating in a sugary sauce can really pack on the useless calories

current weight: 11.0  over

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Posts: 4,707
11/21/12 3:16 A

Battered, fried, and covered in a very high sugar sauce - yes, the calories are astronomical.

I love General Tso's though, so wouldn't want to say goodbye to it, so I make it at home with a reduced sugar sauce and unbattered, just pan-fried in a spritz of oil. Tastes better and I don't go into a sugar coma afterwards.

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11/20/12 11:19 P

Obviously it will depend on the recipe used by the chef. I found an article on Livestrong that reads, "According to the recipe for this dish published on Blogchef.net, one serving contains 776 calories, 31 g fat, 6.6 g saturated fat, 58 g protein, 63 g carbohydrates, 1,726 mg sodium and 337 mg cholesterol. According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a typical restaurant serving of General Tso's chicken provides approximately 1,300 calories, 11 g saturated fat and nearly 3,200 mg sodium."

I'm a vegetarian so I don't know exactly how much would be in a "typical restaurant serving", but 6-8 pieces sounds to me like AT LEAST one typical restaurant serving.

current weight: 122.0

152 144.5 137 129.5

122

Posts: 15,379
11/20/12 10:37 P

Sounds about right... high in fat and a ridiculous amount of sodium.

Posts: 985
11/20/12 7:56 P

Battered and fried....not only are the calories high.... the high sataurated fat and large amount of sodium...can "wok" you right into heart disease and higher cholesterol if eaten regularly.

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11/20/12 6:10 P

Seeing how General Tso's Chicken is pieces of deep fried chicken, I could definitely see how it could be 2000 calories if you eat a lot of it. I found an entry in the tracker though, and it wasn't a user-entered one, that said for 6oz of chicken (which I would guess is closer to what you ate) is around 1100 calories. It was the first entry that came up when I entered "general tso"

I made a light non-fried version of it that was 530 calories and included 1 cup of white rice.

current weight: 138.0

188 175.5 163 150.5

138

SparkPoints: (108,705)
Fitness Minutes: (60,167)
Posts: 7,859
11/20/12 6:04 P

ARE YOU KIDDING ME !!!!
SP says it has over 2000 calories ( i had about 6-8 pieces ) CAN THIS BE RIGHT

current weight: 156.0

168 159.75 151.5 143.25

135