Recipe: Spicy Orange Chicken
Skip The Take Out & Make Your Own!
I’ve make no secret about my having a *thing* for the Chinese delivery guy. Not really because he’s some smokin’ hot, smexy, delivery guy. But, because after living in the middle of Nowhere, Arizona for way too long, just being able to order anything for delivery here in Vegas is a *thing*. The pizza chick makes me smile too, but that’s another story.
You know what I don’t really like? Handing over all that cash! That’s not smexy or hot. And, it’s a *thing* we are trying to cut down on. I did the typical Google searching and found a few good recipes for orange chicken but not one that was just… right. Ya know? The kind of right that makes you go MMMMM. The orange chicken recipe below is a bit of this one and a smidgen of that one. All the good parts of a few different recipes that did work, I mashed together and came up with this super awesome spicy orange chicken! And, not to toot my own horn here (but I’m totally going to, duh) it’s really the best orange chicken we’ve ever had. Maybe because we added a touch of BAM and kick with the spice? I don’t know. Try it, let me know what you think!
Spicy Orange Chicken
Ingredients:
2 lbs Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts (cut about 1 -2 inch pieces)
1 X-Large Egg
1 Tbsp Flavored Rice Vinegar (I’m thinking Sake could work wonders here as well, maybe next time?)
1/4 Cup Water
1 Tsp Sesame Oil
1 Clove Garlic (fine crushed, really whack it good too!)
1 Pinch Crushed Red Peppers (or more to taste, we used more)
1/4 Cup Green Onions (chopped)
2 Pinches of Sea Salt
2 Pinches Of Fresh Ground Pepper (or more/less to taste)
1/2 Cup Cornstarch (plus 1 Tbsp set aside)
1/4 Cup Flour
Canola Oil (to use in frying, peanut oil would also be fine but slightly more costly)
Ingredients For Orange Sauce
(prepare ahead by simply mixing all ingredients together over medium heat and set aside)
1 Fresh Squeezed Orange
2 Tbsp Water
2 Tbsp Ponzu Sauce
6 Tbsp White Vinegar
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
Directions:
Place clean and cut chicken in large bowl. Stir in egg, salt, pepper and sesame oil. Mix well and make sure chicken is fully coated. Let marinate for about an hour. (you can also throw all this in a zip-loc bag, remove air and mix to save yourself a bowl washing!) In separate bowl mix cornstarch and flour together. Remove chicken pieces from marinade and place in dry mix bowl. Stir and coat completely.
Heat canola oil to fry (we used a wok, you could deep-fry at 375* but that’s way too messy for me)
Add small portions of the chicken pieces and fry 3 to 4 minutes at a time (should be golden and crisp) Remove chicken from oil with slotted spoon and allow excess oil to drain off on paper towel. Now set aside while we make the magic spicy orange chicken sauce!
Clean and remove all left over oil from wok. (save 1 Tbsp of this!) Heat on stove top for 15-20 seconds on high. Add the reserved oil back to wok and let it start to heat. Add garlic and stir-fry until fragrant. (and seriously, it’s heavily fragrant!) Add in crushed red peppers and green onions and stir-fry these for about 2 minutes. Slowly stir in flavored rice vinegar (sake??) Add your prepared orange chicken sauce and allow to boil. Once you have a slow rolling boil, add cooked chicken. Stir and mix well. Stir water and set aside cornstarch until smooth in small bowl (make sure there are no chunks!) Add to orange chicken and heat only until sauce is thickened. You’ll have to be sure to stir, stir, stir during this last step.
Sprinkle on a bit more crushed red peppers and serve Spicy Orange Chicken with some fried rice. Tell me if you aren’t breaking up with your delivery guy now too! I’m still calling up our pizza girl, haven’t found a serious contender for her. Yet.
ENJOY!
I am definitely gonna convert this to gluten free and give it a try!
Yummy! That looks delicious!
Oh this reminds me of a recipe I have that is a copycat for Panda Express Orange Chicken. Sounds delish!
That Panda Express one is one of the recipes I used to mush with a few others to make this!! LOL That one had a really good taste… it was… a bit too dry-ish for me though. It needed some more “juiciness’… or glazing… or something. Try it this way, tell me what you think!!
om nom nom! That looks tasty!
This would be great for dinner. Yummy!
That looks awesome! I’ve never had orange chicken before, it sounds really good!
That looks yummy
I think this might make an appearance on the menu one of these weeks 😉
That looks delicious!
Wonderful recipe!
Looks so yummy I am pinning it! 🙂
This is one of my favorite make at home meals. I make a honey sesame chicken at home that is to die for! Can’t wait to try your recipe.
I am totally trying this recipe. I will be at the Asian store today! 🙂
That sauce would work well on other dishes too. I don’t eat chicken, but I’d love to try it on a vegetarian option.
Yum! I can’t wait to try making this. I cook a lot of Thai and other Asian Foods so I actually have everything the recipe calls for, except oranges or OJ so I’ll need to run out for that. Funny since we live in Florida…you’d think that would be the one thing I WOULD have on hand! LOL
That looks incredibly delicious! Thank you so much for this recipe, I will definitely be giving it a try.
That looks really good and very doable. I’ll have to try it sometime.
that looks absolutely delicious!!
I love your cooking advice 🙂 You must be a wonderful chef!!
I’m totally trying this! We looooove orange chicken and can’t get any good Chinese food around here, especially not delivered! Thanks!!!
Sounds yummy! I love Chinese food, but do better making my own because of my gluten intolerance. Thanks for sharing.
Yum! I will have to try this recipe. My kids love Orange Chicken.
I love to cook and it usally is healthierand better than eating out!
I might try this since it looks easy. It’s the first time I’ve heard of ponzu sauce.
I will have to try this as you said you based in on Panda Express’ recipe… and that’s the only restaurant one I like!