Description
This recipe of crispy Chinese orange chicken is made with battered and fried chicken pieces coated with a yummy orange sauce.
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs or chicken breasts, cut into even bite-sized pieces
- Vegetable oil for frying
For the marinade:
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 clove garlic, finely minced
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
For the batter:
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 egg, beaten
For the Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons orange zest
- 1/3 cup orange juice, from 1 orange
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 1 garlic clove, finely minced
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon corn starch mixed with 1 tablespoon water to make a slurry
- 1 teaspoon Sriracha, or a pinch of red pepper flakes, to taste
Garnishes
- 3 green onions, white and green parts thinly sliced on the bias
- sesame seeds
- red pepper flakes
- orange slices
Instructions
- Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces.
- In a shallow bowl, make the marinade by combining the soy sauce, sesame oil, minced garlic, baking soda, and white pepper, stir well to combine.
- Add the chicken pieces and stir to coat all the pieces, set aside and let marinate for 20 minutes.
- In a small saucepan, over medium heat, combine the orange juice, chicken broth, soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, minced ginger, garlic, brown sugar and stir to combine. Bring to a boil.
- Make a slurry by combining the corn starch and water well, add the slurry to the orange sauce and stir well, heat until thickened and coats the back of a spoon. This may take 2-3 minutes.
- Remove from heat and taste, add Sriracha or red pepper flakes to add spice. Stir in the orange zest and set orange sauce aside.
- In a deep fryer, wok or cast iron pan add vegetable oil to a depth or 1-2 inches. Heat to 350°F.
- In a shallow bowl, combine the batter ingredients and stir well.
- Drain the chicken pieces and add to the shallow bowl containing the batter. Stir to evenly coat each batter piece.
- Line a plate with a paper towel and set aside.
- Using tongs, carefully place 10-12 battered chicken pieces around the pan so the chicken pieces don’t touch. Fry for 2-3 minutes until the pieces turn golden, turn halfway through cooking to evenly brown. (You may want to shake off excess batter before placing each chicken piece into the oil.)
- Remove cooked chicken pieces to prepared plate lined with paper towels. Before adding a second batch of chicken, make sure the oil returns to 350°F.
- Continue until all the chicken is cooked.
- Gently toss the chicken with orange sauce and stir to coat all the pieces with the orange sauce.
- Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds.
- Serve warm with rice.
Notes
Make sure the oil temperature is 350°F— if the oil temperature is too low the chicken pieces can become greasy, too high and the batter will darken too quickly before the chicken has cooked.
To make this dish gluten-free, substitute the flour for gluten-free flour or rice flour, and the soy sauce with tamari sauce.
