Orange Chicken
This crispy Orange Chicken recipe is better than takeout, with a sweet and slightly spicy sauce.
This crispy Orange Chicken recipe is better than takeout, with a sweet and slightly spicy sauce.
- 1 egg
- 3 cloves garlic finely minced
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp canola oil
- canola oil for frying
- 3 tbsp water
- 2 tbsp corn starch
- 1/3 cup chicken broth
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- sliced green onions
- 1 1/2 tsp minced ginger
- 1/3 cup corn starch
- 2 pieces
- 1 1/2 tsp fresh orange zest
- 2 tbsp fresh orange juice
- 1/3 cup rice wine vinegar (or dry sherry)
- orange slices
- Carbohydrate 156.997115505837 g
- Cholesterol 306.666666666667 mg
- Fat 78.745944572486 g
- Fiber 29.879569271053 g
- Protein 118.226438537599 g
- Saturated Fat 19.7567651348582 g
- Serving Size 1 1 recipe (2407g)
- Sodium 18996.6871328564 mg
- Sugar 127.117546234784 g
- Trans Fat 7.25885444718655 g
- Calories 1729 calories
Step-by-step
- Ingredients : 1 egg, 3 cloves garlic finely minced, 1/3 cup sugar, 2 tsp sesame oil, 1 tsp canola oil, canola oil for frying, 3 tbsp water, 2 tbsp corn starch, 1/3 cup chicken broth, 3 tbsp soy sauce, sliced green onions, 1 1/2 tsp minced ginger, 1/3 cup corn starch, 2 pieces, 1 1/2 tsp fresh orange zest, 2 tbsp fresh orange juice, 1/3 cup rice wine vinegar (or dry sherry), orange slices
Why does the sauce separate into a watery pool the moment it hits the hot wok? In the historical development of North American Chinese cuisine, citrus-glazed poultry emerged as an adaptation of tangerine beef dishes found in Hunan, transitioning over decades into the batter-fried fast-food favorite recognized today. Commercial kitchens rely on high-output burners and continuous fryers that maintain oil temperatures near 375 degrees Fahrenheit, a thermal stability home cooks struggle to replicate when scaling volume. Doubling a recipe in a standard domestic skillet introduces too much cold poultry at once, causing the oil temperature to plummet and turning the cornstarch coating into a soggy, oil-logged paste rather than a crisp shell. When expanding the batch to feed a crowd, frying the chicken pieces in successive single-layer batches ensures the thermal mass of the oil remains high enough to instantly vaporize surface moisture and set the starch structure. Stacking raw protein too deeply in the frying vessel or overcrowding the sauce reduction pan are the two most common errors that convert a glossy, clinging glaze into a broken mess. Reducing the sauce requires careful attention as the high sugar content shifts rapidly from simmering liquid to scorched caramel once the water content evaporates past the critical threshold. Fresh orange zest supplies essential aromatic oils that bottled juice lacks entirely, containing volatile compounds that degrade quickly if boiled for more than ninety seconds. Storing leftover fried components separately from the glaze prevents the moisture in the liquid from migrating into the crispy crust during refrigeration.
