- Shallow-fry – Heat just 0.5cm / 0.2″ of oil on high heat in a large non-stick pan. Mine is 30cm/12″ – the larger it is, the more chicken you can cook in each batch! The oil should be hot enough so that the chicken sizzles energetically as soon as it hits the oil.
Cook the chicken for 1 1/2 minutes on each side until it is deep golden and crispy. Use tongs to turn, long ones if you’ve got it, as the oil does sputter a bit. Fill the pan with as many pieces of chicken as you can as long as they are not touching each other. I can usually cook it all in 2 batches.
- Drain the chicken on a paper towel lined tray and cook the remaining chicken.
- Sauté – Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the oil and scrape out any loose bits. Then return the pan to the stove and sauté the garlic and ginger just for 20 seconds, until light golden.
- Simmer – Then pour in all the sauce (give it a good whisk beforehand to agitate cornflour settled on the base) until it thickens into a glossy sauce that is the consistency of honey. It will only take 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Speed is good here because it preserves the orange flavour – the longer you simmer, the more flavour is lost! Then stir in the orange zest at the end. This keeps the orange flavour fresher and more vibrant than if it were simmered in the sauce.
- Toss the chicken through the sauce as quickly as you can to preserve the crispiness of the chicken.
- Serve over rice, garnish with green onion and sesame seeds if desired!
A quick note on crispiness, just so nobody accuses me of false advertising! Once the chicken is tossed in the sauce, it does lose some of its crispiness. You’ll still get crispy edges, but it won’t stay shatteringly crisp like the battered shell of, for example, Honey Chicken, which has stronger staying power but can’t be shallow-fried like in this recipe.
Aside from the coating difference, the other reason is that Orange Sauce is water-based, so it soaks into the coating more easily. Other sauces, like Honey Chicken and Sweet and Sour Pork, on the other hand, are coated in sauces based on thicker things like honey or ketchup that sits more on the surface better, helping the crispiness last much longer.
That said, this isn’t a flaw – it’s just the nature of Orange Chicken. Whether you’re eating it at home, at your local takeaway or in a restaurant, the sauce softens the coating, and in fact the sauce-soaked surface is part of what makes Orange Chicken SO GOOD!!!
The chicken does lose crispiness once tossed with sauce, but you’ll still get crispy bits. It’s not a flaw, it’s the way it is! More importantly though, the sauce really clings to the surface of the chicken so you get a good amount of that lovey orange sauce with every bite.
Source: Loosely based on the Orange Chicken by Woks of Life, though I used my no-deep-fry method and tweaked the sauce to my taste.
Ingredients
- 600g/1.2 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs or breast , cut into 2.5cm / 1″ pieces
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce , or all-purpose soy (not dark soy – Note 1)
- 1/2 tsp finely grated ginger , optional
- 1/8 tsp white pepper (substitute black pepper)
- 2 tbsp cornflour / cornstarch – for mixing
- 3/4 cup cornflour / cornstarch – for crispy coating
- 3/4 – 1 cup vegetable oil , or other plain oil (1/2 cm / 0.2″ depth)
Orange sauce:
- 2 tsp orange zest , from 1 orange
- 1 cup orange juice , either squeeze oranges or use fresh bottled OJ (or use the orange then top up with bottle)
- 1 1/2 tbsp cornflour / cornstarch
- 2 tbsp /Shaoxing wine (Note 2)
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar (substitute white vinegar)
- 1/3 cup + 2 tbsp white sugar
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce or all-purpose soy sauce (not dark soy – Note 1)
- 1/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt (halve for table salt, double for flakes)
- 1 tsp ginger , finely grated
- 2 garlic cloves , finely minced with a knife
For serving: FAKHIR
- White rice , or other plain rice of choice
- 1 green onion , finely sliced – optional garnish
- White sesame seeds – optional garnish
