Orange chicken might be the best menu in Panda Express. National Public Radio (an American privately and publicly funded non-profit media based in D.C) even called it "The Gift to American Chinese Food".
The first time I heard about "orange chicken", I doubted it. I love chicken, I love orange juice but can mixing oranges and chicken be the right way to get a delicious meal?
The answer is: Y-E-S!
The chicken is tender and juicy. The sauce is something like caramel, but fresher. It's sour, sweet but not too much, and it tastes like orange. PLUS the thing that I love about this dish is its crispy. If you fell in love with orange chicken just like me, we should say thanks to chef Jimmy Wang, who found this recipe when he worked in Panda Express's innovation kitchen in Pasadena more than 30 years ago.
So I decided to copycat Panda Express Orange Chicken for my family's iftar meal. Since Panda Express is not available yet in Indonesia, orange chicken is not known. When I said to my father that I'm in charge of the iftar meal today and I decided to cook orange chicken, he was like "huh? what?" with a confused face.
"I thought you will make chicken karaage and orange juice," he said.
Anyway, I'm not a professional cook. I rarely cook tho. I cooked this recipe with my friend before, twice, but since I don't really believe in my memory, so I look to this recipe. Since I made some improv, so I'll write the recipe (in my version).
RECIPE
- 1 kg boneless chicken breast (I like breasts more than thighs... in chicken). Cut into ready-to-bite size
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper powder
- 2 tbsp canola oil (you can use another kind of cooking oil that you have. I use canola oil just because cooking oil is scarce in Indonesia.)
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 1/4 cup flour
ORANGE SAUCE
- 2 tbsp vinegar (I can't find rice wine, so I just randomly pick something that I think is similar)
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tbsp cornstarch (I'll tell you, it's too much. Better go with 1 tbsp)
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 cup orange juice (I make it from fresh orange)
- 1 orange, zest
- 2 tbsp minced ginger
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp chili flakes
- 1/2 cup chopped green onion (I don't know what the difference is between scallion, green onion, spring onion, and chives).
DISCLAIMER: To be honest I only used feeling when measuring some ingredients. So if you try this recipe and it tastes different from mine, maybe we don't have the same feeling...(playing broken heart music in the background)
HOW I COOK ORANGE CHICKEN!!!
Mix eggs, salt, pepper, and 1 tablespoon of canola oil in a bowl. Set aside. Then, combine the 1/2 cup of cornstarch and the flour in another bowl.
From the right to left: our beloved chicken breasts, mixed egg, and the flour.
Heat canola oil for deep-frying in a wok. Then wipe your tears because you know that canola oil is so damn expensive but you have no choice. You can't make a crispy orange chicken without sacrificing a lot of your oil.
I've had you since last year, now it's time to say goodbye, Canola-chan
Now dip chicken pieces into the egg mixture, then into the flour mixture, and add it to the wok in small batches. Fry it until golden brown but don't overcook it. If it's done, use paper towels to drain the chicken. Set aside.
Hey, it's not paper towels! I KNOW! But I can't find my paper towels. So yeah, let's just use some random things again.
Let's move to the orange sauce! First, combine the soy sauce, orange juice, brown sugar, and orange zest. Then set aside. Anyway, since I use hard brown sugar (I feel stupid) it's so hard to mix it. It would be better if you have liquid brown sugar (AND IT TURNS OUT I HAVE IT, DAMN!)
It doesn't look good, but surprisingly it tastes delicious. It tastes like normal orange juice. At first, I wonder, where is the soy sauce? But then I remember that the salty taste can amplify the sweet taste. That's why I sometimes put a pinch of salt onto my ice cream.
Clean wok (or go grab another clean wok), add 1 tablespoon canola oil, and heat for 15 seconds over high heat. Add the ginger, garlic, green onions, and chili flakes. Stir-fry until fragrant.
If it's burnt and you still don't smell the aroma, turn off the stove and go to the hospital immediately for a PCR test.
Now add vinegar and the mixture of soy-orange sauce that you set aside. Stir it well. Then add the chicken. Stir it until well mixed.
Well, my advice is it would be better if you stir it until you see a little bit of caramel there.
On another bowl, mix water and cornstarch. Stir it together then add it to the wok. Stir it (again) until the sauce has thickened.
I AM REALLY WORRIED TO SEE MY ORANGE CHICKEN. SEEMS LIKE IT TURNED OUT TO BE CHICKEN KARI...
Try to chill, and keep stirring it. Don't forget to pray, "orange chicken, please. Orange chicken, please. OH GOD PLEASE I WANT ORANGE CHICKEN! MAKE! IT! WORK!"
AND SOMEHOW IT WORKS! It looks like orange chicken in the right way! Not identical but I am still proud of it. At least it doesn't look like kari.
LAST STEP: Add sesame oil. Stir it again. Bring your plate and warm rice. Serve it.
My brother said it taste good. My family loves it. It doesn't look like the real Panda Express Orange Chicken (because I put too much cornstarch, cih). But believes me, it tastes as delicious as the real one.
All these photos were taken by my old but gold Samsung Galaxy A6.