Craving Easy Orange Chicken?

Easy Orange Chicken and Fried Rice

Traditional Chinese food is something I crave often. Yet, Chinese cuisine is the one cuisine that I feel that I have very little grasp on preparing despite all my years of cooking experience. I generally prefer to leave it to the professionals when I have an insatiable hankering. However, there have been times when I’ve been forced to make one of my favorite dishes on my own and this Easy Orange Chicken recipe is truly fail-proof! It has become one of my go-to recipes when I have a little bit of time to fry the chicken pieces. Whipping up the tangy semi-sweet sauce is a breeze. It really does satisfy and it’s so good that we rarely have any leftovers. Please enjoy!

Orange Chicken Recipe

8 oz. skinless boneless chicken breast or thighs cut into 1″ bite-sized pieces
2 T. corn starch
Oil for deep frying
2 cloves garlic minced
1 T. minced ginger
5 dried chilies
2 green onions cut into 1″ pieces
Sesame seeds for garnish

Sauce

3 T. orange juice (for extra orange flavor, zest a bit of fresh orange peel)
2 T. soy sauce
1 T. rice wine
1 T. rice vinegar
1/2 t. sesame oil
2 T. sugar
1 t. cornstarch
1 T. H20

Mix all sauce ingredients in bowl and set aside. Toss the chicken in the corn starch in a separate bowl.

Heat 2-3 inches of oil in a wok around 350 degrees. Gently drop chicken pieces into oil and fry until they are a light golden brown. Remove with a slotted spatula and place on paper towels. When done, remove oil except for a tablespoon or so and add garlic and ginger to hot oil and stir before adding hot dried chilies. Return the chicken to the wok and add sauce. Stir until chicken is coated and serve immediately. Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds. Goes great served with fried rice!

Tracey Bartel – Agent and Gourmand