Spicy Orange Chicken

Posted on August 6, 2007. Filed under: Asian, Chicken, Main Dish |

“Spicy” Orange Chicken

2 oranges
1/4 C mild-flavored molasses
1 TBSP soy sauce
2 TSP cornstarch
3/4 C all-purpose flour
1/2 TSP salt
1/4 TSP baking powder
3/4 C water
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1 inch pieces
3 C vegetable oil, for frying
1 TSP chili oil (if using chili sauce substitute 2 TBSP)
4 whole dried chili peppers
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 TSP finely chopped fresh ginger
Hot cooked rice or stir fry noodles

Remove 1/2 inch wide strips of peel from 1 orange with a vegetable peeler. Slice peel into 1 inch pieces; set aside (remove the COLORED portion of skin only, the white pith has a bitter taste).

Juice oranges to measure 1/2 C juice. Combine juice, molasses, soy sauce, and cornstarch in a small bowl; set aside.

Combine flour, salt and baking powder in a medium bowl. Whisk in water to form a smooth batter. Add chicken and mix well.

Heat 3C vegetable oil in wok over medium-high heat until oil registers 375. Shake off excess batter from one-third of chicken; carefully add chicken to wok.

Cook about 4 minutes or until chicken is golden brown and no longer pink in center, stirring occasionally to break up pieces with spoon. Remove chicken with slotted spoon to tray lined with paper towels; drain. Repeat 2 more times with remaining chicken (make sure oil stays hot between batches).

Pour off all oil from wok. Reheat wok over medium-high heat until hot; add chili oil (or chili sauce). Add orange peel, died chili peppers, garlic and ginger; stir fry 30 seconds to 1 minute or until fragrant.

Stir cornstarch mixture; add to wok. Cook and stir until sauce boils and thickens. Return chicken to wok; mix well. Transfer to serving plater and serve over rice or noodles.

recipe from Chinese Favorites, 37530 no. 78, Best Recipes created by tegdirb92 at 10:37 AM

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Update August 15: We tried this tonight and it was fabulous! Next time, though, I’ll probably just flour the chicken instead of using batter, fry in much less oil, and then go to the sauce step. I’ve always got to find a way to “lazy up” a recipe! This just seemed very work-intensive.