epicurious4.0
Easy Orange Chicken
Starring crispy fried thigh meat dressed in a savory, citrus glaze, orange chicken is a Chinese American take-out staple well worth making at home.
👥 4 Servings⏱️ Prep & Cook: 35 min🔥 Cook: 35 min👤 Genevieve Ko📖 epicurious
🥘 Ingredients
Check off ingredients as you prepare them:
🍳 Cookware
- ●bowl
- ●peeler
- ●microwave
- ●whisk
- ●skillet
- ●baking sheet
📝 Preparation Steps
1
Start the chicken:
2
In a shallow, medium bowl toss the chicken pieces with the soy sauce and wine. Let stand while you make the sauce.
soy sauce1 teaspoonlow-sodium soy sauce1 tablespoon
3
Make the orange sauce:
4
Using a vegetable peeler, remove 4 lengthwise strips of zest from 1 orange—each strip should be about ¾-inch wide and 3½- to 4-inches long. Arrange the zest in one layer between paper towels and microwave on high in 20-second increments until dry and brittle but not browned, 60 to ⏱️ 80 seconds total. Let the zest cool then finely chop it. If desired, use a Microplane to remove some of the remaining zest from the orange and reserve it for garnish. (If desired, zest the second orange for additional garnish.)
5
Squeeze enough juice from both oranges to measure ½ cup. In a small bowl, whisk together the juice and 2 teaspoons cornstarch until the cornstarch is dissolved.
oranges2½ cup cornstarchcornstarch2 teaspoons
6
In a 10-inch skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over moderate heat until hot but not smoking. Add the garlic, ginger, crushed red pepper, and dried orange zest and stir-fry until golden, about ⏱️ 30 seconds. Add the soy sauce, wine, vinegar, and sugar and stir until the sugar dissolves, about ⏱️ 5 seconds. Stir the orange juice–cornstarch mixture then add it to the skillet. Bring the sauce to a boil, stirring, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for ⏱️ 1 minute. Remove the skillet from the heat and set it aside while you fry the chicken.
garlic, minced2 clovessoy sauce1 teaspoonlow-sodium soy sauce1 tablespoonsugar2 tablespoons½ cup cornstarchcornstarch2 teaspoons
7
Fry the chicken:
8
Line a large rimmed baking sheet with paper towels.
9
In a 10-inch cast-iron skillet, heat ½ inch of oil until a deep-fry thermometer registers 365°F. Meanwhile, coat half of the chicken, a couple pieces at a time, in cornstarch, making sure they are well coated and gently knocking off any excess, then transfer to a plate. Carefully add all the coated chicken to the hot oil, spacing the pieces apart from each other. Fry the chicken, turning it once or twice, until deep golden, about ⏱️ 5 minutes. While frying, adjust the heat as necessary to keep the oil at 365°F. Using a metal spider or a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken as done to the paper-towel-lined baking sheet. Continue to coat and fry the remaining chicken in the same manner, returning the oil to 365°F between batches.
½ cup cornstarchcornstarch2 teaspoons
10
Once the chicken is fried, place the skillet of reserved orange sauce over moderately low heat and bring it to a simmer, stirring and thinning the sauce with a little water if necessary. Add the chicken, and stir until thoroughly coated in sauce.
11
To serve:
12
Transfer the chicken to a serving dish and garnish with the scallions, and, if desired, the red chile slices and the freshly grated orange zest. Serve immediately with rice.
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