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Orange chicken
For the tastiest orange chicken, use thigh fillets. Add ginger and orange zest to the syrupy sauce without thickening it with starch.
Course
Main Course
Cuisine
Asian Fusion
Prep Time
10
minutes
minutes
Cook Time
20
minutes
minutes
Marinating time
30
minutes
minutes
Total Time
1
hour
hour
Servings
4
people
Author
Connie Veneracion
Ingredients
500
grams
chicken thigh fillets
1
tablespoon
soy sauce
2
tablespoons
rice wine
1
tablespoon
oyster sauce
½
teaspoon
salt
¼
teaspoon
pepper
½
teaspoon
sesame seed oil
1
orange
Orange sauce
zest from ½ orange
½
cup
white sugar
2
tablespoons
rice vinegar
½
teaspoon
salt
¼
teaspoon
grated ginger
2
tablespoons
orange juice
To cook orange chicken
¼
cup
tapioca starch
or potato starch or corn starch
cooking oil
To garnish
orange wedges
thinly sliced scallions
Instructions
Marinate the chicken
Pat the chicken fillets dry and cut into two-inch cubes.
Place the chicken and all the ingredients for the marinade, except the orange, in a bowl and mix well.
Cut the orange into halves; reserve one portion.
Finely grate the zest of half an orange and mix into the chicken.
Cover the bowl and marinate the chicken in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Make the sauce
Using a paring knife or a vegetable peeler, cut off the zest of the reserved orange half.
Put the orange zest and all the ingredients for the sauce in a small sauce pan.
Cook the sauce over medium heat, occasionally swirling the pan, until syrupy (see notes after the recipe). Set aside.
Fry the chicken
In a wok or frying pan, heat enough cooking oil to reach a depth of at least three inches.
Take the chicken out of the fridge and stir.
Take the half orange (from which the zest used in the marinade was taken) and cut into wedges.
Add the tapioca starch to the chicken and toss to distribute evenly.
Fry the battered chicken until browned and lightly crisp (see notes after the recipe). Scoop out the chicken and move to a strainer or rack.
Assemble the orange chicken
Pour off the oil (you may reuse it) from the pan.
Strain the orange sauce directly into the pan.
Heat the sauce until bubbly.
Add the cooked chicken to the sauce and toss them around until each piece is generously coated with the syrupy sauce.
Stir in the orange wedges.
Transfer the cooked orange chicken to a shallow bowl, sprinkle with sliced scallions and serve at once.