Orange chicken is the signature dish of the American fast food chain Panda Express, which sells over 100 million pounds of it every year. In the TV series The Big Bang Theory, the character Sheldon’s favorite Chinese food is orange chicken
Chef Andy Kao (from Panda Express) claims to have developed the original Chinese-American orange chicken recipe at a Panda Express in Hawaii in 1987. Orange chicken is called Chinese food in North America, but orange chicken is rarely found in Chinese restaurants in China. Orange chicken is just a variation of General Tso’s chicken, another dish that is almost unknown in China.
Ingredients:
- 2x chicken breast (cut into ½ inch cube)
- 1 large orange (for juicing and garnish; also you can substitute with ½ cup of supermarket frozen or bottled orange juice). Use a sharp knife to remove the outer part of the orange peel and cut into small long strip. (julienne cut)
- 3 cups cooking oil
- 1 pinch sesame seeds (optional, for garnish)
Marinade
- ½ tbsp salt
- ¼ tbsp sugar
- Dash of white pepper
- ½ cooking wine
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- ½ beaten egg
Mix the above ingredients with the cutup chicken breast and let it marinade for at least ½ hour
Orange Sauce
- Juice from 1 orange (about ½ cup)
- ½ tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp water
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- ½ tbsp oyster sauce
Thickening cornstarch water
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 3 tbsp water
Mix together and set aside
Batter:
- 3 tbsp flour
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ beaten egg
- 1 tsp oil
Mix batter thoroughly
The perfect batter for frying chicken
a 3:1 flour to cornstarch ratio for our batter, because using only flour wouldn’t give us enough crunch, while using only cornstarch would turn out rock-hard. A small amount of baking powder contributes to the delicacy of the crispy coating.
This batter will give you perfectly crispy chicken pieces that can hold up a loving layer of sticky orange chicken sauce.
Method
Mix the marinated chicken pieces with batter. Heat up oil to 300 F (medium high). Deep fry the chicken for approximately 3-4 minutes or until the chicken nuggets start floating on top. Remove chicken pieces from the oil and drain the excess oil; set aside.
Heat up the oil to 400 F (high heat) and place chicken nuggets back to the oil for about two minutes or till golden brown. . The first deep fry is for cooking the chicken and the batter but the second deep fry (high heat) is to make the outer chicken shell crispier. Remove chicken from the oil and allow drainage of excess oil.
Remove oil from the pan except for about two tablespoons left. Keep stove on medium and put in the julienned orange peel; let it cooks for about 30 seconds or until you can smell the orange aroma. Mix in the already prepared orange sauce, turn heat to high at this time until you see bubbles all over the pan. Mix in the cornstarch water slowly until the sauce thickens. Return the chicken nuggets back to the pan and mix it thoroughly. Serve immediately! The chicken nuggets should stay crispy for 5-10 minutes.
Sweetening it up
One of the most defining features of orange chicken is its striking color: bright orange sauce. That’s why our recipe uses white, granulated sugar and chicken breast.
You could use honey, and other parts of chicken like drumsticks.