Orange Chicken

I love Chinese food to a fault, and this is one of my favorite simple dishes to make. Nice and spicy with a sweet tangy sauce, it makes even my picky brother-in-law happy to eat something outside of his comfort zone.


















Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound chicken breast (cut into bite-size cubes)
• 5 dried red chilies (cut into 1.5 inch length, seeded and soaked in warm water)
• 1 teaspoon minced orange zest
• 2 cloves garlic (minced)
• 1 inch ginger (minced)
• 2 teaspoons oil
• Oil for deep frying

Orange Sauce:

• 1/4 cup freshly-squeezed orange juice
• 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 3 tsp chicken broth
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp Chinese rice wine
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp rice vinegar
• 5 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp corn starch
• Salt to taste
  

Frying Batter:

• 1/2 cup water
• 2 oz. all-purpose flour
• 1 oz. corn starch
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 egg
• 1 teaspoon cooking oil
• 1 small pinch of salt

Directions:

Mix the orange sauce ingredients and set aside.Mix the frying batter and dip the chicken meat into the batter. Heat up a pot/wok of cooking oil. When the cooking oil is hot enough for frying, drop the chicken pieces into the oil and deep fry them until they turn golden brown or crispy. Transfer them out onto a plate lined with paper towels to soak up the excess oil.








In a wok, add 2 teaspoons of cooking oil and quickly stir-fry the minced garlic and ginger until aromatic. Add in the dried red chilies and toss around until you smell the spicy aroma. Follow by the minced orange zest and then chicken. Quickly stir the chicken around before adding the orange sauce mixture. Continue to stir-fry until the sauce thicken. Dish out and serve immediately with steamed white rice and steamed broccolli.