Orange Chicken
Orange Chicken
Posted by LladyRusty at recipegoldmine
com May 26, 2001
Source: Posted by Cookin’ Dad – 30 November 2000, 9:16 am – Original Date: 15 October 2000 8:52 am
My father-in-law is back in Taiwan again for two weeks after a short trip to China
In spite of him not being at home that much these past few days, I did manage to get in a few lessons
For those of you who did not read the past messages related to this topic, my father-in-law is a chef with about 50 years of experience
I can’t help but be awestruck as I watch him work in our kitchen at lightening speed in spite of his advanced age
Yesterday I made a chicken dish that is somewhat similar to orange chicken (call it that for lack of a better name)
He didn’t supervise me the whole time, but rather gave me a list of ingredients with approximate measurements
For starters, I cut up about 3 cups of chicken breast meat & set it aside
Next, I made the following sauce which is surprisingly simple, but delicious:
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (approximation)
Approximately 1/4 cup water or low-sodium chicken broth
(to dilute soy sauce – otherwise too salty; I used water)
2 or 3 garlic cloves (crushed)
1/2 tps hot sauce
Note: At first I was against using so much sugar & vinegar, but my father-in-law insisted on using large amounts of near equal portions of both
Who’s to argue with 50 years of experience?
About 2 hrs prior to making this dish, I poured a little of the sauce mixture in with the breast nuggets so meat would soak up flavor
To do otherwise would not allow the sauce to deeply penetrate the meat
Yesterday, after frying my first batch of chicken, I tasted a piece & it was delicious without the sauce! After pouring enough of sauce to cover chicken pieces, I mixed in cornstarch (1/4 cup!) & let mixture sit in refrigerator
While mixture sat in refrigerator, I cut up some red & green bell peppers & green onion (total of approximately 1 cup)
Later, I beat a couple of egg whites until frothy & set aside
After removing chicken from refrigerator, I poured off sauce mixture & dipped chicken pieces in egg white (my father-in-law claims that this helps to tenderize chicken pieces – VERY IMPORTANT
Next, I mixed in at least 1/2 cup cornstarch (using large quantity – VERY IMPORTANT – & mixed with h&s until mixture became very gooey
After placing meat back in refrigerator, I heated bit of oil in wok, added 1 clove of minced garlic & sauteed bell peppers for about 3 min before adding green onions
I sauteed for another 1 – 2 min before removing from fire & adding more oil to fry chicken
After oil was hot (about 360 deg), I placed chicken pieces in oil, trying to separate them as best as possible
After frying chicken (about 1-1/2 – 2 min per piece), I drained pieces on paper towel-lined plate
Next, I added sauce to wok & heated for a minute or so before adding about 1 1/2 Tbspcornstarch mixed with equal amount of water
After stirring, I added vegetables & brought mixture to boil
Afterwards, I reduced heat & simmered until mixture started to thicken, at which point I added chicken pieces & heated for about 1 minute
This dish was served over white rice & was delicious
The flavor was tangy & sweet, nothing like anything I’ve had before
This would also be great with pork!
I made this dish without my father-in-law’s supervision because he had a bunch of err&s to run
He said I did a pretty good job, but should have added a little oil to the egg white/cornstarch mixture before frying the chicken
This would have made the nuggets crispier
Oh well, I guess experience is the best teacher
P
S
I also learned a vegetable & sauce trick which I will post in the near future
Tomorrow I will probably make a crispy beef dish with my father-in-law
This time, however, he promised to walk me through the steps instead of tell me what I should do & then disappear
I feel I have good cooking instincts, but they can only carry me so far–especially when it comes to making Chinese food (lol)!
Servings: 4
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