Orange Chicken

This is seriously better than take out.  This is the best orange chicken I have ever had.  Ever.  And we ate the whole batch in about 24 hours.  It was that good. 

Warning though, it took forever to make.  If I had known that Chinese food took so long to prep/cook, I would have waited to make this on the weekend.  Oh well, lesson learned and now y’all know if you want to make this, do it on the weekend.  Oh…and I used an entire container of Panko bread crumbs and I think about 6 eggs.  So, make sure you have enough before getting into this recipe.  It calls for a lot less than what I had to use.

But again….SO worth it!

The original recipe can be found here. 

What do you need?

• 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into 1-1/2” cubes
• 1 ½ cups corn starch
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs
• 2 eggs, beaten
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• Oil (for frying)

Orange Sauce

• 1 ½ cups water
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar
• 2 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon orange zest, grated
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon ginger root, minced
• ½ teaspoon garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons green onion, chopped
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons water

What do you do?

Combine corn starch, salt, and pepper.  Prepare a bowl with beaten eggs, another with panko bread crumbs and another with corn starch. Dip chicken in egg mixture, dredge in cornstarch, then again in the eggs and finally in the panko bread crumbs, set aside.  Heat pan with vegetable oil to 375 degrees, fry chicken in batches until completely cooked.

In a large saucepan combine 1 ½ cups water, orange juice, rice vinegar, and soy sauce. Blend well over medium heat for a few minutes. Stir in brown sugar, orange zest, ginger, garlic and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil.

Combine 3 tablespoons of cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water and mix thoroughly. Slowly stir cornstarch mixture into sauce until it thickens. Pour sauce over breaded chicken, and if desired garnish with green onions.

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Like I said have more Panko and eggs on hand.  You probably will need it.