Chinese Orange Chicken
Recipe video above. This is a recipe for Chinese Orange Chicken that makes impressively crispy chicken pieces without deep frying. The sauce has great orange flavour, it's not too sweet, and I love the background hint of ginger!The chicken does lose crispiness once tossed with sauce, but you'll still get crispy bits. It's not a flaw, it's the way it is! More importantly though, the sauce really clings to the surface of the chicken so you get a good amount of that lovey orange sauce with every bite.Source: Loosely based on the Orange Chicken by Woks of Life, though I used my no-deep-fry method and tweaked the sauce to my taste.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 600g/1.2 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs or breast , cut into 2.5cm / 1" pieces
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce , or all-purpose soy (not dark soy - Note 1)
- 1/2 tsp finely grated ginger , optional
- 1/8 tsp white pepper (substitute black pepper)
- 2 tbsp cornflour / cornstarch - for mixing
- 3/4 cup cornflour / cornstarch - for crispy coating
- 3/4 - 1 cup vegetable oil , or other plain oil (1/2 cm / 0.2" depth)
Orange sauce:
- 2 tsp orange zest , from 1 orange
- 1 cup orange juice , either squeeze oranges or use fresh bottled OJ (or use the orange then top up with bottle)
- 1 1/2 tbsp cornflour / cornstarch
- 2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine /Shaoxing wine (Note 2)
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar (substitute white vinegar)
- 1/3 cup + 2 tbsp white sugar
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce or all-purpose soy sauce (not dark soy - Note 1)
- 1/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt (halve for table salt, double for flakes)
- 1 tsp ginger , finely grated
- 2 garlic cloves , finely minced with a knife
For serving:
- White rice , or other plain rice of choice
- 1 green onion , finely sliced - optional garnish
- White sesame seeds - optional garnish
Instructions
ABBREVIATED RECIPE
- Mix chicken with soy, ginger, pepper and 2 tbsp cornflour, then coat in remaining cornflour. Clench few pieces in fist, shake off excess cornflour in colander. Shallow-fry until deep golden. Remove oil, sauté garlic, simmer sauce 2 min until thickened. Add zest, toss chicken, serve!
FULL RECIPE
- Orange sauce - Whisk the cornflour and soy sauce in a large jug or medium bowl until lump free. Then whisk in everything else except garlic and orange zest. Set aside.
- Coat chicken - Mix the chicken pieces with the soy sauce, ginger, pepper and the 2 tablespoons of cornflour in a large bowl. Mix well - the coating becomes a bit sticky and acts as a glue. Add the 3/4 cup cornflour and toss to coat each piece, separating as needed (they stick together a bit).
- Press and shake off - Pick up a few pieces and enclose in your fist, to really press the cornflour on. Place in a colander, then repeat with remaining chicken. Shake colander so excess cornflour falls through the holes. This press-and-shake method is highly effective crispy no-fry technique! (Note 3)
- Shallow-fry until crispy - Heat the oil on high heat in a large deep non-stick pan (mine is 30cm/12"). The chicken should sizzle straight away when you dip it. Spread half the chicken out (or as much as you can, without crowding), and cook for 1 1/2 minutes on each side, using tongs to turn, until deep golden and crispy. Remove onto a paper towel lined tray and repeat with remaining chicken.
Orange sauce:
- Sauté - Pour out all but 2 tablespoons of the oil, and scrape out any loose crispy bits. Return the pan to medium high heat. Sauté garlic until light golden, about 20 - 30 seconds.
- Thicken sauce - Give the sauce a whisk (to mix cornflour settled on the base) then pour it in the pan. Simmer for 1 to 2 minutes until it thickens into a thick, glossy syrup (honey consistency). Stir in zest.
- Toss - Put the chicken back into the pan and toss quickly to coat in the sauce. Serve over rice, garnished with green onion.
Notes
1. Soy sauce - Don't use dark soy sauce or sweet soy sauce, these are too intense and will ruin your sauce. Use light soy or a regular all-purpose soy sauce.
2. Chinese cooking wine - adds saltiness and depth of flavour into the sauce. Substitute with same amount of cooking sake. For non alcoholic, use 1/4 cup low sodium chicken stock/broth and expect to simmer for an extra minute or so for the sauce to reduce.
3. Crispy coating method - Scrunching the chicken pieces in your fist helps the cornflour to adhere to the skin well. We don't use egg because egg = less crispy coating (fun fact!). Shaking off excess well is important to ensure you don't end up with a powdery coating, also because we are not deep frying, excess cornflour will burn on the base of the pan and end up sticking onto your chicken pieces.
Leftovers will keep for 3 to 4 days in the fridge. Minus crispiness, but it's still great!
Nutrition is coming!! Ran out of time!