Good day to you all!

Can I just take a brief second to talk about pomegranates? I feel like they are pretty seriously under-appreciated where fruits are concerned. Most people don’t even know how to eat them. Actually, you know what? I feel like I could say this about so many other fruits too.

When did the general population become so unimaginative with the produce section? There’s more to life than apples and bananas people. I genuinely love just eating the arils as they are, but even if that’s not your thing I still think the juice is as good, if not better, than any citrus or berry juice.

So this chicken, it’s really not that different than your typical Chinese orange chicken when you think about it. I feel like this is what would happen if General Tso had a pomegranate farmer for a neighbor and started getting Winter cabin fever. The tartness of the pomegranates give this sauce a sort of berry flavor so it’s perfect for summer, but because pomegranates are a Autumn/Winter thing this is also great for weeknights during the cold seasons. See, it’s a win win situation for everybody!

The sauce is made with both fresh pomegranate juice and a product that you should be able to find in your local grocery store wherever they have the exotic ingredients; pomegranate molasses. It’s a Middle Eastern thing and I’m totally hooked on it now! If you can’t find it there I’d check the closest natural food market for it.

On the pom juice, I juiced fresh pomegranates in my blender and strained the juice, but since that is a little time consuming you could just buy pomegrante juice to keep things simple. Oh, and you can’t forget about the sides either. I served this with a really simple fried rice with lots of veggies to try to balance the fact that (let’s be honest) the entree is pretty much a doughnut version of chicken. You could also throw some steamed broccoli or other veggies on your plates for some color if you want.

Okay, and just one more thing, I have to answer the question that my brothers (and pretty much every guy I know) always need answered about their food: can you add bacon? You see, right before my fam moved to Chile from the States, Panda Express started making their orange chicken with (wait for it……..) bacon! I’m pretty sure they don’t do it anymore but it was insane and since I was making it for my brother's birthday I had to do it. So what I’m saying is that if you’re wondering whether or not to add some bacon the answer is most definitely YES!!

Other than that I can only say that you need to give this cousin version to your favorite Chinese food item a shot!

As always, the recipe is available upon request, and I always give an upvote for the first one.

Also, check out some of my other recent food posts for more mouthwatering photos!

ALL CONTENT IS MINE AND ORIGINAL! All of these food photos were taken with my Nikon D5300 and my favorite Lens, the Nikon AF-S FX NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G. You can find out more in my INTRO POST.