Mmmmmmmmmmm.....

Made it last night for dinner. I'm just now finishing up the leftovers for lunch, and realized I never posted about it.

This is, quite honestly, the BEST orange chicken I've ever had.

Recipe:
Combine 4 egg whites and 2 tbs corn starch in a bowl, beat into a froth (about 1 minute with a whisk)
dash of salt & pepper

2 B/S chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces

Throw the chicken pieces into the egg white mixture and allow to sit 10-15 minutes


Rice:
I used jasmine rice, we prefer the nutty flavor of it. Quite frankly, all these rice cookers and assorted nonsense are just that - nonsense. There is NO easier thing to cook than rice.

1 cup jasmine rice
1.5 cups water
dash of salt

Bring to a boil on the stove, then kill the heat and put on a lid. In ~15-20 minutes, your rice will be perfectly cooked. Fluff it with a fork, if any liquid remains in the bottom, clamp the lid back on, you weren't patient enough. If you want more rice, the ratio of rice:water is NOT linear. 2 cups of rice requires 2.75 cups of water. Cooking is the same.

Sauce:
1 cup orange juice
about 1 tbs orange zest
nice heavy pour of soy sauce (around 2 tbs)
nice heavy pour of rice vinegar (around 2 tbs)
about 3-4 tbs of brown sugar
about 1" of grated fresh ginger
4 large garlic cloves, grated or minced
crushed red pepper to taste (I used perhaps a teaspoon full? Dunno. Quite a bit)
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
a bit of salt & fresh cracked black pepper

in a separate cup, mix 2 tbs cold water and 2 tbs corn starch until all the lumps are gone. Pour into the above mixture. Heat the whole thing on the stove until sauce thickens. Don't overcook, it will continue to thicken as it cools.


Fry the chicken however you choose. I've used a large skillet with 2" of oil in the bottom, last night I used a deep fryer, doesn't matter. Fry it for 2 minutes, then flip it and fry it for 2 more to ensure even browning. Make sure to put the pieces into the oil individually, or you will have a giant clump of chicken all fried together. The "batter" sets very quickly in the oil! Remove & drain. In my deep fryer, it took 4 batches to cook all the chicken. Once all the chicken has been cooked & drained, split it into 2 batches, then put each of those batches back into the fryer again for about 90 seconds. This really sets the crust. Drain & serve.

Enjoy!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: exx1976,

Sounds fantastic, I'll give it a go! By 1" of ginger, do you mean a 1" long section of root?

quote:

Originally posted by Outnumbered:
Sounds fantastic, I'll give it a go! By 1" of ginger, do you mean a 1" long section of root?

correct

Oh man your recipes always get me! Any photos?

quote:

Originally posted by Copefree:
Oh man your recipes always get me! Any photos?

Unfortunately, no. We were starving yesterday evening, so the thought hadn't occurred, and then lunch today I just heated it in the microwave and mixed it all together. It wasn't pretty, but it sure was tasty!

Yesterday evening was a bit more presentable. Even had some green onion tossed on top for a bit of color.

When I moved to china I was pretty dissapointed when I found out there isn't any orange chicken here.

I love that stuff.

Sounds great. I am saving this.

I've been toying with the idea of attempting to bypass the local Chinese joints (all horrible) for my fix by attempting at home. This seems like a fantastic place to begin. Thanks for sharing the goods, as always.

Is it ok to use peanut oil to fry the chicken chunks? I'm a little low on evoo, not sure that's what this dish wants, anyway?

quote:

Originally posted by irreverent:
Is it ok to use peanut oil to fry the chicken chunks? I'm a little low on evoo, not sure that's what this dish wants, anyway?

In the frypan last time, IIRC, I used vegetable oil.

My deep fryer is peanut oil.

I couldn't recall a difference between the two. The sauce is what made it so perfect this time - last time I had too much sugar and not enough red pepper flakes.

quote:

Originally posted by exx1976:

quote:

Originally posted by irreverent:
Is it ok to use peanut oil to fry the chicken chunks? I'm a little low on evoo, not sure that's what this dish wants, anyway?

In the frypan last time, IIRC, I used vegetable oil.

My deep fryer is peanut oil.

I couldn't recall a difference between the two. The sauce is what made it so perfect this time - last time I had too much sugar and not enough red pepper flakes.

Good to know. Thank you!

That sounds great. I love orange chicken and will save this recipe! Thanks for posting it.

Should not orange chicken be called Trump chicken?