We have a very popular lemon chicken recipe on this website, but this orange chicken recipe is something different and special. Orange chicken is a rather unusual recipe, but not because it doesn’t taste good. Traditionally we don’t really cook with orange, but after tasting this recipe you will really wonder why that is.

Very similar to a sweet and sour recipe, the sugar, sherry (or rice wine) and soy sauce give a very similar flavor. The light batter on the chicken helps capture the delicious flavours of the sauce, and the small chicken pieces stay moist and tender.

Ingredients:

Sauce:

• 1/3rd cup orange juice
• 1 tablespoon orange zest
• 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons dry sherry or rice wine
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

Chicken:

1. 4 chicken breasts, sliced into 1/2 inch cubes.
2. 1 cup plain flour
3. 1/2 teaspoon salt
4. 1/4 teaspoon pepper
5. 3 tablespoons oil (olive oil is always preferred)

Directions:

1. Fry the garlic and ginger in a skillet on medium heat until it begins to change color
2. Next add the rice wine or dry sherry, soy sauce, orange zest and brown sugar. Simmer the sauce on low heat for about 5 minutes
3. Finally add the orange juice and cornstarch, mixing gently on low heat until it begins to thicken, adding some water if it gets too thick.
4. Pour the finished sauce into a spare bowl
5. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, salt and pepper.
6. Dip the chicken pieces quickly into the sauce, allowing the sauce to drip off leaving the chicken lightly coated
7. Roll the chicken in the flour mix until thinly covered in flour.
8. When all of the chicken is coated with flour, clean your skillet, add some olive oil, and fry the chicken on medium heat until all sides begin to turn a light brown color.
9. Turn the heat down to a low simmer and pour the sauce back into the skillet.
10. Cook for a further 10 minutes on simmer and serve with white rice.

This orange chicken recipe is best served with white basmati rice and serves about four people. You can easily double the ingredients for a dinner party, or if you prefer a little more sauce you can, again, just double the ingredients.

Some people also like to add a little lemon, but in my opinion the lemon flavor can be over-powering. I often pre-boil a double volume of orange juice (1 and 2/3rd cups) so I have a stronger orange flavor, but this is just a matter of taste and not required for this orange chicken recipe.