Sweet & Sticky Orange Chicken
Today is Orange Chicken Day and in honour in one of our favourite Asian cuisines indulgences, here is our take on a popular recipe.
What You’ll Need
- Juice of 2 Large Oranges
- Zest of Half an Orange
- 4 tbsp Caster Sugar
- 5 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 2 Cloves of Garlic (peeled & crushed)
- 1 Small piece of Ginger (peeled & grated) or 1 tsp of Ginger Paste
- 1 tsp Rice Vinegar
- 3 Chicken Breasts (chopped into chunks)
- 3 tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 2 tbsp Cornflour
- Pinch of Salt & Pepper
- 1 Red Bell Pepper (sliced)
- 200g Sugar Snap Peas
To Serve
- Boiled Rice
- 4 Spring Onions (chopped, diagonal)
Method
- Mix the orange juice, zest, sugar, soy sauce, garlic, ginger and rice vinegar. Pour into a zip lock bag with the chicken and leave to marinate for a couple of hours or overnight. (Marinating is not essential).
- When you’re ready to cook, pour the marinade into a small pan. Bring to the boil, then let it simmer gently to reduce down a little. If it’s looking too dry, add in a splash of water. Whilst it’s simmering start to boil your rice.
- Heat the oil in a wok or large frying. Pat the chicken dry with some kitchen roll, then mix the cornflour with the salt and pepper and toss the chicken in the cornflour until completely coated. When the oil is hot, tip the chicken in and fry until crispy (9 or 10 minutes). Try not to move the meat (3 or 4 stirs) around too much as this seems to reduce the amount of crispiness you get.
- Once the chicken is crispy and cooked through, remove the chicken using a slotted spoon, and place in a bowl lined with kitchen roll to soak up excess fat.
- There should still be a little oil left in the pan at this point. Turn the heat down a little and add the sliced red pepper and sugar snap peas. Fry for a minute or two, then pour over the orange sauce. Turn up the heat and add the chicken back in. Give it a stir and heat through for 1 minute. If the sauce is looking too thin, you can stir in a cornflour slurry (1 tsp cornflour mixed with 3 tsp cold water) to thicken.
- Once bubbling and thick, serve up with boiled rice. Garnish with the spring onions/scallions.