Homemade Orange Chicken

One of my newest favorite things to try this year is homemade Chinese dishes… or as close as I can get to them!  So far I’ve only gone as far as chicken… but that’s what we eat 80% of the time in this household anyways!  I was cruising Damn Delicious the other day… which may I add there are some great recipes there and I’m sure I’ll be back!!  I came across her Chinese Orange Chicken recipe and had to give it a whirl… That is the one go to dish when we hit up Panda Express while doing back to school clothes shopping!

So this was my first time making this dish… and I hit a couple bumps in the road while doing it… I stopped myself and made some changes… and it turned out great!  Biggest thing was this recipe was working with cornstarch… I’ve never been a big fan of cornstarch… but I did give it a try on a few pieces of chicken… Didn’t like how it was turning out, so I swapped it out with flour!  Also the recipe called for 1 TBLS of cornstarch in the sauce… it thickened it so much I couldn’t even use it … So I quickly made up some more sauce and added just 1/2 tsp of cornstarch to it… worked great!

Lesson learned here… Don’t be afraid to try new things… but also listen to your gut instinct and play around with recipes!  I love being in the kitchen and trying new things… Sometimes my family calls themselves the “Guinea Pigs” … But I’d rather have them as my “Guinea Pigs” then serving them the same things over time and time again!

Homemade Orange Chicken

Homemade Orange Chicken

  • Servings: 5-6
  • Difficulty: medium
  • Print

Ingredients:

  • 2 TBLS oil divided plus more for frying
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • pepper to taste
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/2 tsp cornstarch
  • 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast cut into chunks
  • 1 TBLS fresh ginger minced
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 cup chopped green onion
  • 1 TBLS rice wine
  • 1 1/2 TBLS soy sauce
  • 5 TBLS sugar
  • 5 TBLS white vinegar
  • zest from one orange
  • Juice from one orange or 1 1/2 TBLS water

Steps:

  1. In a bowl add the orange juice (optional) and the zest from the orange
  2. Add soy sauce, sugar, vinegar and mix together
  3. Toss the chicken in and marinate it for 20-30 mins… strain chicken keeping the sauce.
  4. Over medium high heat add 1 TBLS oil then the ginger and garlic stir around for 30-60 seconds… then add the red pepper flakes and green onion and saute for another 30-6- seconds.  Add the rice wine for 10-15 seconds and then add the remaining orange sauce.
  5. Bring to bowl and set to low to simmer.
  6. Dip the chicken in the egg wash and then in the flour coating evenly
  7. mix 1 TBLS water and 1/2 tsp cornstarch and add it to your sauce to thicken.
  8. Fry the chicken over medium high heat… you don’t need much oil… or if you have a deep fryer that works great
  9. Add the chicken to the sauce and mix well… Top with chopped green onion (optional) Enjoy!!

 

Orange Chicken 001
In a bowl add the orange juice (optional) and the zest from the orange
Orange Chicken 002
Add soy sauce, sugar, vinegar and mix together
Orange Chicken 003
Toss the chicken in and marinate it for 20-30 mins… strain chicken keeping the sauce.

I forgot to snap a picture for this next step….

Over medium high heat add 1 TBLS oil then the ginger and garlic stir around for 30-60 seconds… then add the red pepper flakes and green onion and saute for another 30-6- seconds.  Add the rice wine for 10-15 seconds and then add the remaining orange sauce.

Orange Chicken 004
Bring to bowl and set to low to simmer.
Orange Chicken 005
This is also where I changed it up as well… Dip the chicken in the egg wash and then in the flour coating evenly.
Orange Chicken 006
mix 1 TBLS water and 1/2 tsp cornstarch and add it to your sauce to thicken.
Orange Chicken 007
Fry the chicken over medium high heat… you don’t need much oil… or if you have a deep fryer that works great!
Homemade Orange Chicken
Add the chicken to the sauce and mix well… Top with chopped green onion (optional) Enjoy!!

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