Not your ordinary Chinese fast food: Orange Chicken

mariaantonette
Oct 13, 2015
3 min read

Back when I used to love fast food, I went gaga over Panda Express' orange chicken since the day it landed into my tongue in 2008. The combination of sweetness, tanginess, a kick of spice, and crunch never fails to make me drool. <drooling right now LOL>. Orange chicken is an American Chinese dish that is very common in most food chain in the US. I'm that type who will always try to make everything from scratch even though I'm aware that I can easily get it without sweat. Let's just say that I appreciate things more when you work hard for it. So I decided to recreate this dish at home and I'm proud to say, it was a success! I consider this as a very comforting food, so comforting that I can't stop eating it. I bet it will have the same effect on you!

Orange chicken is usually served over fried rice, but you can always use it as a salad topper or a filling in a wrap. Happy cooking!

Ingredients

Marinade 2 pcs Chicken breasts (boneless and skinless) 1/2 Tbsp Ginger, grated 1 Tbsp Garlic, crushed 1/2 part Orange fruit , juice and zest 1 Tbsp Soy sauce

For Frying Cornstarch Garlic salt and pepper Vegetable oil

Sauce 1/2 part Orange fruit, juice and zest 1 Tbsp Soy sauce 2 Tbsp Rice vinegar, or any type of vinegar 1 Tbsp Brown sugar 2 tsp Sesame oil 1 tsp Chili flakes (optional) Slurry (1:1 cornstarch and water)

Directions 1. Rinse the chicken breasts and pat dry with paper towel. Cut the chicken into strips or in cubes. Set aside. 2. Combine ginger, garlic, orange zest, soy sauce, and orange juice altogether. This will serve as your marinade. 3. Place the previously cut chicken to a 1 gallon zip lock, pour the marinade over the chicken. Close the bag and make sure to take all the air out of the bag before sealing. 4. Massage the chicken in the bag and make sure that it's evenly coated with the marinade. 5. Place the bag inside the fridge for 15 minutes or more to marinate.

Garlic + Ginger + Orange zest Orange juice as main flavoring Marinated chicken

6. Prepare the vegetable oil for frying. 7. In a container with lid, place about 1/4C of cornstarch, a dash of garlic salt and pepper. Keep the container closed before shaking. 8. Divide the marinated chicken into 4 parts. Place a 1 part of the marinated chicken inside the container with the starch mixture, close, and shake until chicken pieces are fully coated. 9. Use a pair of chopsticks to grab the chicken pieces from the container. Deep fry the chicken until golden brown. 10. Place paper towel on a strainer to absorb excess oil from frying. 11. Repeat steps 7-10 for the remaining 3 parts of marinated chicken.