restaurant style orange chicken

I would like to first off apologize again for not posting for a couple of days. I have a really good excuse though. Check out the cuteness below. My husband and I just adopted a new puppy from Loyal Heart puppy rescue. As you can see he is super cute and has taken up a little bit of our time. His name is Marty and he is a welcomed addition to our family for sure.

Now on with the recipe!!! I have this amazing recipe for restaurant style orange chicken that I adapted from Crepes of Wrath. I would like to start off by saying there is frying of chicken that is involved. If your having a panic attack about or think it cant be healthy relax and take things one step at a time. I seriously thought this would be extremely hard and create a major mess in my kitchen, but I was pleasantly surprised. This was not only fun to cook it was great in the end to know that I made something that was probably substantially better for me then getting it in a restaurant.

Your ingredients
2 pounds chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 inch of oil for frying
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 cup green onion
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 cup water mixed with 1 tablespoon cornstarch

To make the sauce:
5 tablespoons soy sauce
5 tablespoons granulated sugar
5 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
zest of 1 orange
juice of 2 oranges

You want to first start off with whisking one egg, salt, pepper, and 1 tbs of veggie oil in a bowl together.



Put your pieces of chicken in a bowl and put the egg mixture over the top and mix through with a spoon.

Then pour 1/2 cup of cornstarch and 1/4 cup of all purpose flour over the top. You are going to have to use your digits (or fingers) on this one. If you move to get a spoon pull yourself away and remember how hard it is going to be to clean off the gooey mess it will create. So mix it up with your fingers until each piece of chicken is coated in the cornstarch/flour mixture.




Put enough vegetable oil into a fry pan to have at least 1 inch deep of oil. TIP: If your worried about frying chicken like I am use a low cal healthier alternative like smart balance veggie oil.

Get the pan nice and hot and begin to fry each individual piece in batches. Prepare your work surface (as my mom would say) and lay out several pieces of newspaper or paper towel to properly drain your chicken when its done. How do you know when its done you ask? Use some tongs to flip over a piece if it is golden brown its probably done. Get it brown on the other side then take it out of the oil and drain then cut one open if your worried to make sure it is completely cooked if you like.

In a separate bowl combine your green onion, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, ginger, garlic, and crush red pepper. Add that to a sauce pan and cook through until it becomes quite fragrant.

Then whisk together your sauce with 5 tbs of soy sauce, 5 tbs of rice wine vinegar, 5 tbs of sugar, zest of 1 orange, and juice of 2 oranges. Once that is cooked through and steamy in your face mix together 1/4 cup of water with 1 tbs of cornstarch in a separate bowl. Add that to the sauce on the stove to thicken up your orange goodness!!



Add the chicken and stir. Serve with some sweet brown rice and steamed broccoli and you have yourself a complete meal.
This orange chicken was insanely flavorful. I highly recommend it and take your time in your kitchen to enjoy it in all of its wonder and freshness!

Enjoy !!!