Chinese Orange Chicken - Take Out From Home!

Chinese food is my comfort food. I LOVE it. Yum. And I invariably order the same thing at every Chinese restaurant I go to--Orange Chicken. I had a taste for it last week, and I scrounged my favorite recipe site, Allrecipes.com, until I found an orange chicken recipe that had great reviews.

This recipe takes a little more prep and time, but it is so worth it if you love Chinese!

In addition to boneless, skinless chicken breast, you'll also need chopped onions, ginger, minced garlic, lemon or orange peel, orange juice, soy sauce, vinegar, lemon juice, brown sugar, an egg and cornstarch. Whew! 

Pour the 1-1/2 cups water, orange juice, lemon juice, vinegar, and soy sauce into a saucepan and set over medium-high heat.  Stir in the orange zest (I used dried lemon peel, 'cuz I had it!), brown sugar, ginger, garlic, and onion.  Bring to a boil.  Remove from heat, and cool 10-15 minutes.

Chop the chicken into nugget-sized pieces.  Just a tip: if the chicken is slightly frozen, it makes slicing/cutting much easier.  Place the chopped chicken into a Ziploc. 

When contents of saucepan are cool, pour 3/4 cup of sauce into bag. Reserve the remaining sauce. Refrigerate the chicken and sauce at least two hours.

Beat the egg in a large bowl and add a little milk or water to thin it.  Add a few chicken pieces to the egg mixture.

Combine flour, salt and pepper.  Dredge (love that word!) egg-coated chicken in flour.  Repeat again if you like well-breaded chicken (*raising hand*). 

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Place chicken into the skillet a few pieces at a time and brown on all sides.

Drain on a paper towel-lined plate, and keep warm in the oven.

In another saucepan or skillet, bring the reserved orange sauce to a boil over medium-high heat. 

Mix together the cornstarch and 2 Tbsp. water and stir into the sauce.  Reduce heat to medium low, add the chicken pieces, and simmer about 3 minutes, until everything is nicely melded {another word that I love the sound of!}.  Serve over a bed of rice.

If you look closely, you will notice that this serving is actually plate #2.  I will not disclose whose plate this belongs to, in deference to their wishes. ;)

Asian Orange Chicken

Sauce:

1-1/2 cups water

2 Tbsp. orange juice

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/3 cup vinegar

2-1/2 Tbsp soy sauce

1 Tbsp. grated orange or lemon zest

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp. ginger

1/2 tsp. minced garlic

1 Tbsp. dried onion flakes

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes, optional

1 Tbsp. cornstarch

2 Tbsp. water

Chicken:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 egg

1 cup flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

Oil for frying

Pour the 1-1/2 cups water, orange juice, lemon juice, vinegar, and soy sauce into a saucepan and set over medium-high heat. Stir in the orange zest (I used dried lemon peel, 'cuz I had it!), brown sugar, ginger, garlic, and onion. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat, and cool 10-15 minutes.

Chop the chicken into nugget-sized pieces. Just a tip: if the chicken is slightly frozen, it makes slicing/cutting much easier. Place the chopped chicken into a Ziploc.

When contents of saucepan are cool, pour 3/4 cup of sauce into bag. Reserve the remaining sauce. Refrigerate the chicken and sauce at least two hours.

Beat the egg in a large bowl and add a little milk or water to thin it. Add a few chicken pieces to the egg mixture.

Combine flour, salt and pepper. Dredge (love that word!) egg-coated chicken in flour. Repeat again if you like well-breaded chicken (*raising hand*).

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Place chicken into the skillet a few pieces at a time and brown on all sides.

Drain on a paper towel-lined plate, and keep warm in the oven.

In another saucepan or skillet, bring the reserved orange sauce to a boil over medium-high heat.

Mix together the cornstarch and 2 Tbsp. water and stir into the sauce. Reduce heat to medium low, add the chicken pieces, and simmer about 3 minutes, until everything is nicely melded {another word that I love the sound of!}. Serve over a bed of rice.