I really hadn't thought to make this at home until the craving hit one day. Well, I'd also thawed out some chicken and couldn't make my damn mind up on what to do with it, so a couple of gears were turning as I tried to decide.
This is made very similarly to Bourbon Chicken, except this time I used a mix of flour and cornstarch to bread the chicken instead of just cornstarch. I'd done one or the other but what difference could some slight adjustments in breading cause?
The recipe was easy enough. I tossed some bite-sized pieces of chicken in the mixture and fried the until they were a nice, golden brown. The orange sauce I made in a small pot on the stove with a mixture of orange juice (fresh-squeezed), honey, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, crushed red pepper, ginger, and garlic.
Though I'd already fried the chicken so a healthy dish was pretty much out the window, I did make a little bit of effort in the right direction by serving this with cauliflower rice. Seriously, I know it's a trend right now but cauli rice is seriously a fantastic swap out. I mean, I'm making this chicken with an orange sauce that has a very strong flavor - am I really going to notice the subtle flavor adjustment between rice and cauliflower rice? I think not, my friends.
The sauce was thick and coated the breading nicely, resulting in a nice contrast to the takeout version. The biggest difference I noticed is that my version was significantly less sweet than the original, and that isn't everyone's cup of tea. Not only did I use fresh orange juice, I also cut back on the amount of sugar added. Next time I would add a little more honey or perhaps just use brown sugar instead, as the acidity of the orange juice caused a slight bitterness. I won't say that it was bad, but it was detectable for me and as I already scale back sugar significantly, I'd imagine other palates would find this difference greater.
The best part to me was that the leftovers kept well. The difference caused by mixing flour and cornstarch vs just one or the other as a breading was in texture. Cornstarch makes a great breading immediately but does not heat up well - it gets gummy later. While I'm sure everyone has heated up fried food and had it become soggy, I'd say cornstarch does it more so than most fried foods. Flour itself browns well and in my option is a big drier. The combination of the two was a good mix of both worlds and made a really nicely coated piece of chicken. Can't say there is a damn bit of food science in that, but that's just going by what I've noticed.
What I'm really figuring out here is that I can cook a bunch of chicken bites, make a few sauces, and create my own buffet in the kitchen. Hmm..
Orange Chicken Recipe
Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts, cut into cubes
Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts, cut into cubes
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup flour
3 tablespoons cooking oil (I used avocado)
1/2 - 3/4 cup fresh-squeezed orange juice (approximate; juice from one orange)
1/4 cup honey or sugar (double for a sweeter sauce)
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon minced ginger
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
Orange zest from one orange
1 tablespoon water
2 cups cooked rice or cauliflower rice
Instructions:
Mix 1/3 cup of the cornstarch and the flour together in a small bowl. Heat oil over medium-high heat. Toss chicken in flour mixture, then cook in batches of 5-7 pieces at a time. Set aside cooked pieced on a a paper towel to drain excess oil. To make the sauce, combine orange juice, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and crushed red pepper in a saucepan and heat to medium. Heat to a simmer, then cook for 3-5 minutes. Whisk together the remaining cornstarch with water, then stir into the sauce. Lower heat, then continue cooking for 3-5 more minutes until sauce thickens. Stir in orange zest. Toss chicken in sauce then serve with vegetables or rice as desired.
adapted from orange chicken
No comments:
Post a Comment