Zesty Orange Chicken is yet another attempt of mine at homemade and americanized chinese food to satisfy my insane cravings. I'm trying to not fatten up everything I eat (just most things, mwa haha), so I used skinless chicken breast. However, this recipe is way better with popcorn chicken, which you can buy in the frozen section in most grocery stores. You may also like Orange Chicken Egg Rolls, which is a very similar recipe... but a bit more complicated.
You will need:
3 skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
(an equivalent amount of popcorn chicken)
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 1/4 tsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp orange zest
Juice of 1/2 orange
1/4-1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (to taste)
2/3 cup dark brown sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp corn starch
1/4 cup water
1. Cook the chicken however you see fit and cut into cubes. I like to cook my chicken breasts for 10-15 minutes in the microwave at a medium heat, covered in a casserole dish with some water at the bottom (flipped halfway through).
2. In a medium pot, dissolve 1 1/2 Tbsp corn starch in 1/4 cup water.
3. Add soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, orange zest, orange juice, crushed red pepper flakes and dark brown sugar. Simmer until sauce thickens.
4. Run sauce through a sieve to strain pepper flakes and orange zest. This is unnecessary if you don't mind the orange bits or pepper flakes! Then return sauce to pot.
5. Add cooked chicken to pot. Cover, and allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving (reheat if necessary).
I recommend serving with rice or rice noodles.
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