Easy Orange Chicken

Easy Orange Chicken with Chicken Fried Rice and Homemade Egg Rolls

    Sure it's extremely quick and easy to open a bag of frozen orange chicken or order it for takeout, but there is something rewarding about making it at home.  Because we are a big family, I usually buy the large family size packages of chicken breasts from Aldi.  Each package typically contains 4 large or 5 medium size chicken breasts.  When making a meal like Orange Chicken with Chicken Fried Rice, I will use the entire package of chicken, but the good thing is that I get two meals or dishes out of it!  

    I will warn you that this recipe can get time consuming, but make it in stages.  This will definitely help.  I will cut the chicken into 1 inch chunks the night before.  Put them in a large freezer bag or air tight container and store in the fridge.  In the morning or early afternoon, I will make the coating for the chicken.  Combine the chicken and allow it to sit in the coating in the fridge.  Then about an hour or so before dinner, I will start to fry the chicken.  I have the oven on a lower temperature to keep the chicken warm after frying it.  

  

    Yes, you can definitely make the orange sauce from scratch, but after making the chicken, I get a little lazy and open two jars of orange sauce and heat it.  😃  We serve the chicken and sauce separately.  Everyone can add the amount of sauce they would like and this makes it easier to store leftovers so the chicken doesn't get soggy in the sauce.  Serve with plain white rice, brown rice, or fried rice.  Our preference...fried rice.

This recipe will serve 6 to 8 with leftovers.

Ingredients:

• 2 to 3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch chunks
• 3/4 c. corn starch
• 1/4 c. flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• salt and pepper
• 2/3 c. water
• oil for frying
• 2 bottles of Orange Chicken Sauce

Directions:

1. Cut chicken into 1 inch or bite size pieces.  Feel free to do this ahead of time.
2. Whisk together corn starch, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pepper.  Add water slowly to combine.
3. Add chicken to the flour mixture.  Coat chicken on all sides.  You can prepare in advance, and can place in the fridge for up to 4 hours.
4. When ready to fry, heat 1/2 inch of oil in a large skillet.  Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.  Prepare a pan to put chicken after it's fried.  Cover a baking sheet with foil.  Place a cooling rack on the foil covered baking sheet.  This will allow excess oil to drain after frying.  After each batch of chicken is fried, place it on the cooling rack and put in the oven to keep warm.  
5. To test the oil if it's ready, dip the end of a wooden spoon into the oil.  If bubbles form around the spoon, the oil is ready.
6. Add chicken pieces one at a time to the hot oil.  Be sure not to crowd the skillet.  This will reduce the oil temperature and cause the chicken to stick together.  The chicken will cook quickly in the hot oil.  Flip once to brown both sides of the chicken.  Remove to cooling rack and season with salt.  Place the chicken in the oven and start to fry the next batch.  Continue this process until you are finished.
7. While the chicken is staying warm in the oven, heat the Orange Chicken sauce in a separate pot.
8. Serve with white or brown rice or fried rice.  You may choose to combine both the chicken and the sauce, but we prefer to serve them separately.  ENJOY!!

NOTE: If you keep the chicken and sauce separate when serving, keep them separate for leftovers.  The chicken will not get soggy.