陈皮鸡 - Orange Peel Chicken

Orange chicken is a popular Chinese dish in the United States. Called 陈皮鸡 in Chinese language, orange chicken is of Hunan origin. As with most Chinese food served in the United States, the likes of Panda Express have butchered it to a goopy, sticky, and unappetizing mess.Orange chicken (also known as orange peel chicken or tangerine chicken) derives its name from the use of dried orange peel (陈皮) in the recipe. As dried orange peel is not commonly available for most people, I used fresh orange zest as a replacement, which works well. As orange chicken is originally a Hunan dish, you can’t do without some dried red chilies…

Yield:

Serves 2-4

Ingredients

1. 1/2 pound chicken breast (cut into bite-size cubes)
2. 5 dried red chilies (cut into 1.5 inch length, seeded and soaked in warm water)
3. 1 teaspoon minced orange zest
4. 2 cloves garlic (minced)
5. 1 inch ginger (minced)
6. 1 stalk scallion (use the white part only, cut into thin threads for garnishing)
7. 2 teaspoons oil
8. Oil for deep frying
9. .
10. For the Orange Sauce:
11. ===================
12. 1/4 cup freshly-squeezed orange juice
13. 3 tablespoons canned chicken broth
14. 1 tablespoon soy sauce
15. 2 teaspoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
16. 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
17. 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
18. 5 teaspoons sugar
19. 1/8 teaspoon white pepper powder
20. 1 teaspoon corn starch
21. Salt to taste
22. .
23. For the Frying Batter:
24. ===================
25. 1/2 cup water
26. 2 oz. all-purpose flour
27. 1 oz. corn starch
28. 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
29. 1/2 egg
30. 1 teaspoon cooking oil
31. 1 small pinch of salt

Directions

1. Mix the orange sauce ingredients and set aside.
2. Mix the frying batter and dip the chicken meat into the batter. Heat up a pot/wok of cooking oil. When the cooking oil is hot enough for frying, drop the chicken pieces into the oil and deep fry them until they turn golden brown or crispy. Transfer them out onto a plate lined with paper towels to soak up the excess oil.
3. In a wok, add 2 teaspoons of cooking oil and quickly stir-fry the minced garlic and ginger until aromatic. Add in the dried red chilies and toss around until you smell the spicy aroma. Follow by the minced orange zest and then chicken. Quickly stir the chicken around before adding the orange sauce mixture. Continue to stir-fry until the sauce thicken. Dish out, garnish with the scallion threads and serve immediately with steamed white rice.

Notes