It's no secret that Orange Peel Chicken is one of my all time favorite things but it's horribly hard to find a well made Orange Peel Chicken that's crunchy and full of flavor.
Our favorite Chinese food restaurant changed owners awhile back and I haven't been able to find an Orange Peel Chicken that compares. Panda Express was the closest but still wasn't as good. After trying out all the local Chinese food restaurants we decided to perfect it at home. It was very similar to what our favorite restaurant had made but even better!
The only bad thing was we had no leftovers to devour the next day. Next time I'll have to add an extra chicken breast and hide the leftovers from Colt.
Peel off the zest of 2 oranges using a vegetable peeler being careful not to remove the white pith.
Orange zest should be about the size of 1" squares.
In a medium sized bowl combine juice from orange and chicken broth.
Add brown sugar and rice vinegar.
Stir in soy sauce.
Add Chili Garlic Paste and stir until well combined.
Take 2/3 of your orange juice marinade mixture and add it to your cubed chicken breast. Cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes or until ready to use. Set remaining orange juice mixture aside.
Beat 2 eggs until well blended. When you're ready to fry the chicken add as many pieces of chicken that you can fry in a single layer to pan.
Coat chicken in corn starch.
Heat cooking oil (I like coconut oil) over medium to medium-high heat until hot, adjust heat so oil isn't smoking.
Fry chicken in small batches until brown and then flip chicken over. Brown both sides and cook until chicken is no longer pink in the center.
Drain grease from chicken and store in 180 degree oven on a cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining chicken until all chicken is cooked through.
Drain oil from pan and add 1 tablespoon oil and zest from orange, cook until orange zest becomes light brown and crispy.
Add fresh garlic and ginger and cook until garlic is softened. I find frying the orange zest and garlic gives a different flavor to the sauce then cooking everything together.
Add remaining orange mixture, bring to a simmer. Stir together 2 tablespoons cornstarch and water, slowly stir into simmering orange mixture. Stir until thickened.
Add fried chicken and stir until coated and heated through.
Once done serve with rice, fried rice or chow mein noodles and a steamed veggie.
I'm totally smitten and content other then the urge to make this again tonight for dinner! If your lucky enough to have leftovers make sure to hide them well or someone else will devour them! Enjoy!
These other classic Chinese Recipes:
- Hot & Sour Chicken Soup
- Sweet & Sour Meatballs
- Sticky Sweet & Sour Ribs
- Asian Cucumber Salad
- Roasted Baby Boy Choy with Ginger and Garlic Sauce
- Easy Fried Rice Recipe
- Ground Beef & Broccoli
- Szechuan Shrimp & Broccoli
- Pressure Cooker Chinese Pepper Steak
Yield: 5
Chinese Orange Peel Chicken
Easy to make Chinese Orange Peel Chicken recipe is naturally gluten free and full of flavor! The secret to this dish is in the peel.
4.8
out of 5
based on 4 user ratings
prep time: 15 Mcook time: 25 Mtotal time: 40 Mingredients:
Orange Peel Sauce
- 2 whole Oranges Zest Removed Using A Vegetable Peeler In 1" Pieces
- 1 cup Juice From Oranges
- 3/4 cup Chicken Broth (Gluten Free)
- 2/3 cup Brown Sugar
- 1/3 cup Rice Vinegar
- 1/4 cup Tamari Soy Sauce (Gluten Free)
- 1 tablespoon Chili Garlic Paste (Gluten Free)
Fried Chicken
- 4 whole Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast, Cut Into 1 1/4" Cubes
- 2 whole Eggs, Beaten Well
- 1 1/2 cups Cornstarch (Gluten Free)
- 2 teaspoons Fresh Ginger, Grated
- 4 cloves Garlic, Minced
- 2 tablespoons Cornstarch (Gluten Free)
- 3 tablespoons Water
- Cooking Oil For Frying (I like coconut oil.)
instructions:
How to cook Chinese Orange Peel Chicken
Orange Peel Sauce
- In a medium sized bowl combine orange juice, chicken broth, brown sugar, rice vinegar, soy sauce and chili garlic paste. Mix until sugar is dissolved and well combined.
Fried Chicken
- In a small bowl or ziploc bag add chicken and pour 2/3 cup orange sauce over the top. Cover, refrigerate and marinate 20 minutes or until ready to use.
- In a large heavy duty pan heat about 1 1/2" of oil until hot but not smoking.
- Dip marinated chicken into beaten eggs and then cornstarch.
- Fry chicken in a single layer in pan, working in about 3 batches. Cook until chicken is brown, flip chicken over and brown other side. Cook until chicken is no longer pink in the center.
- Keep chicken warm in 180 degree oven on a cookie sheet while frying the remaining chicken.
- Repeat with remaining chicken.
- Drain oil from pan and add an additional 1 tablespoon oil. Heat oil over medium-high heat and add orange zest. Saute orange zest until it starts to brown and is fragrant. Add ginger and garlic, cook until garlic is softened and fragrant.
- Add remaining orange sauce to pan and bring to a simmer.
- In a small bowl whisk together the remaining 2 tablespoons cornstarch and 3 tablespoons water until smooth and lump free.
- Stir cornstarch mixture into simmering orange sauce. Cook until thickened.
- Add chicken and stir until coated and heated through.
Calories
498
498
Fat (grams)
6
6
Calories are estimated.
© 2014 Serena Bakes Simply From Scratch
10 comments
Yum! This dish looks delicious! Pinning :)
This lions delicious. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
We love making Chinese food at home and Orange Chicken is a definite favorite! Can't wait to try it!
I love anything Chinese with a big pile of fried rice. I can't wait to try
Yum! Yum! Yum! Putting this on my menu soon!
Gorgeous pics, Serena!! I know I would love this recipe and will have to try making it soon! I love making Chinese food at home! :)
Love the sound of this! will have to try this this week! I never made orange chicken and need to test this out : ))
Looks really good, but you left out the hot dried (whole) chilies! They really don't add much heat unless you want it and eat them. I would put them in with the orange peel, as they need to be toasted as well.
Good recipe but next time would use half of garlic called for. I love garlic but this was too overpowering in the Orange sauce. Also would add chili flakes and/or something else to give it a bit of kick and balance out the sweet.
This is a recipe I couldn't pass up. Looks easy and delicious. Thank you Serena! Colt does a wonderful job doing the pictures. Janis Wheeler
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