Orange Chicken

(Made with fresh chicken breast chunks)

(Made with frozen tenderloin chunks)

Chicken and breading:

1 TBSP oil
1 egg
1/4 c flour
1/4 c cornstarch
salt and pepper, to taste
2 large fresh chicken breasts, cut into large chunks (Tenderloins will also work, but pieces will obviously not be as thick. Same goes for frozen chicken.)

Combine egg, oil, and salt and pepper in medium mixing bowl.

Add chicken chunks to mixture and stir together, making sure that all pieces are coated.

Add flour and cornstarch to mixture.

(Don't be fooled. These steps must happen in this order. And the mixture may not look right to you, but it works. Promise!)

Heat oil on stove. You'll need it to be medium high to high, but not the highest heat. It needs to be hot enough to crisp the outside, but not so hot that the outside gets charred and inside isn't thoroughly cooked. (Remember my outrageous paranoia about meat not being thoroughly cooked?!)

Cook thoroughly and set chunks on plate covered with paper towel (to allow excess oil to drain).

Sauce: (**Makes enough for 2 installments...so cut ingredient amounts in half, or go with these quantities and freeze the rest. Freezes like a dream!**)

1 1/2 cups water
4 TBSP orange juice
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 1/2 TBSP soy sauce
1/4 cup plus 1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp minced fresh ginger
1/4 tsp minced garlic
1 rounded tsp chopped green onion
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
3 TBSP plus 1 tsp cornstarch
4 1/2 TBSP water

In a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine all of the sauce ingredients, except the cornstarch and 4 1/2 Tbsp water. Stir often while bringing mixture to a boil. When sauce reaches a boil, remove it from heat.

In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and 4 1/2 TBSP of cool water. Stir until cornstarch has dissolved. Pour this mixture into the sauce and set the pan over high heat. When sauce begins to bubble and thicken, remove it from heat.

Toss chicken chunks with half of the sauce (freeze the rest!) and serve over sticky rice.

Comments from the cook: Hello, and welcome to orange chicken heaven. Since we moved to Kansas, we haven't have access to Panda Express or the fab Chinese that we loved at Smith's in Utah. I stumbled upon this recipe, and my new-recipe-trying husband dove right in one night when I was under the weather. He touches the meat in this family (he really loves me), so he's technically the expert on this one. I've made the sauce, so I can take a LITTLE bit of ownership...

We use more orange juice than the original recipe calls for (quantities already adjusted above), and use all cornstarch instead of arrowroot. If you have it around, click on the links below to fancy up the recipe (then email me and explain to me what-in-the-world you're doing with arrowroot in your cupboards).

We have been searching for an easy orange chicken recipe for a while. Well, guess what? If you want good orange chicken, it takes a little work! Love, love, love this recipe. Am SURE you will too...

Endorsed by so-incredible photographer, Tara Whitney, on here (and she found it here). Some text taken from these websites.