Orange Chicken

Have you ever walked around the food court in the mall? A lot of times, at least when I was a mall goer, you’ll see employees from Panda Express handing out free samples of orange chicken to lure you to their store with their siren song. The yummy sweet crunchy citrusy bite is everything you’d hope for when you’re perusing the mall shopping for whatever. Because nothing drums up an appetite more than mall walking. It’s science.

Side note. Is there anything more exhausting as a child than mall walking? Literally when I was a kid if you had approached me with the offer of running several miles or going to the mall with my parents for several hours, I would choose the former. Maybe it’s the mind numbing boredom that is the mall when you’re a kid, because invariably you’re just dragged to boring clothes stores while all the toy stores in the mall just lay empty just waiting for you to go inside. But anyways, I digress.

Orange chicken is a tasty treat, I’ve covered it before, but this time I’ve made it slightly more decadent. Orange chicken is insanely popular in the U.S. / Western Hemisphere mainly because it’s usually deep fried in a crunchy batter and then coated with a heavy orange chili sauce. It’s basically a variation of General Tso’s chicken, and that’s probably why everyone loves it.

But you can make orange chicken without having to go through all the effort of frying chicken, by simply dicing up chunks of boneless chicken thighs you can make a dish thats ready in less than a hour. The key to this dish is your orange sauce, I recommend using fresh orange juice and if you can a touch of orange zest to add a tasty pop to your orange sauce. The plum sauce will create a pleasant underlying sweetness in the sauce that will help bring the entire chicken dish together.

I highly recommend eating this dish with some fresh rice or in a romaine lettuce wrap. The end result will be an addicting feast that you’ll want to make again and again.

Recipe – Orange Chicken

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. Plum Sauce

1 Tsp. Oyster Sauce

2 Tbsp. Mirin (Sweet Rice Wine)

2 Tbsp. Rice Wine Vinegar

2 Tbsp. Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice

1 Tbsp. Orange Jam

1 Tbsp. Soy Sauce

1 Pound of Diced Boneless Chicken Thighs

1 Tbsp. Peanut Oil

Method

Step 1 – Mix the oyster sauce, soy sauce, mirin, and chicken thighs together.

Step 2- In a separate bowl, mix together the plum sauce, rice wine vinegar, orange jam, and juice together.  This is your orange sauce

Step 3- In a wok, heat your peanut oil.