If you haven’t jumped on the #fakeaway bandwagon yet – you are missing out. A huge trend these days is to make your favorite takeaway or take-out dishes at home! I have been doing this for a while but this one really nails it. My version of Orange Chicken & Ginger Rice was gobbled up so fast, I had barely sat down with my own dish when the kids were asking for seconds. You get the delish sweet orange with the tang of ginger over crispy chicken bites.
Fresh squeezed Orange Juice and orange zest are really important to get the right orange flavor for the sauce. If you need a zester – check out this one from KitchenAid (it’s the one I have and love!) If you use a juice from the jug – make sure there is no sugar added – your sauce will become way too sweet. We are super lucky to have some amazing friends that send us fresh oranges from their own orange trees regularly – so we get to have extra fresh flavors from our orange dishes! You also need to use fresh ginger to get the zing.
The breading on the chicken shouldn’t be too thick. If you prefer a more “nugget” like crust – you could certainly do a full dredging station with egg and all. But typically orange chicken just has a light breading to help it be crispy in the sauce.
Now Let’s Get Cookin’!
Orange Chicken & Ginger Rice
Ingredients
- 3 Scallions chopped
- 1 tsp Sesame Seeds
- 2 cup Vegetable Oil
For the Chicken
- 1½ lb Chicken Thighs, boneless, skinless cut into ½ inch cubes
- ½ cup Flour
- ¼ cup Corn Starch
- 1 tsp Ground Ginger
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Onion Powder
- 1 tsp Black Pepper
- 1 tsp Paprika
For the Rice
- 2 cup Short Grain Rice
- 1 qt Chicken Broth
- 1 tsp Ginger Powder
For the Sauce
- 3 Oranges zested, juiced
- ¼ cup Honey
- ½ cup Rice Vinegar
- ¼ cup Fresh Ginger grated
- 1 tbsp Seasame Seeds
- 3 Garlic Cloves minced
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tbsp Brown Sugar
- 2 tbsp Corn Starch
- 1 tsp Black Pepper
- ¼ cup Coco Aminos
Instructions
- Prepare all of the ingredients.
- In a bowl, combine ingredients for chicken. Toss until well coated.
- In a saucepan over medium-high heat, add ingredients for rice. Cover and cook for 17 minutes. Turn off heat and let sit until ready to serve. DO NOT remove lid.
- In a shallow frying pan over medium heat, add oil. Once hot enough to make a drip of water crackle, begin frying chicken in batches. Stir occasionally and let cook for 3 minutes per batch. Remove from oil to a paper towel cover plate.
- In a large saute pan over medium high heat, add all sauce ingredients. Stir to combine and keep from burning. Let simmer while cooking chicken. Once all chicken is cooked, add to sauce and toss to coat. Let cook for 3 minutes more.
- Serve a portion of rice, with a serving of chicken over top. Add a little extra sauce over rice. Sprinkle with scallions and sesame seeds.
Estelle Forrest self-published this cookbook after a lot of playing around in the kitchen. You can purchase your own copy here:
AVAILABLE IN PRINT OR KINDLE eBOOK VERSIONS
Don’t miss new recipes from Homemade on a Weeknight – subscribe and get an email with every new post!
YUM!! Looks tasty! Thanks so much for linking up with me at the Unlimited Link Party 25. Pinned!
I am a big fan of orange chicken and this looks yummy! I can’t wait to try it!
Maureen | http://www.littlemisscasual.com
This looks really tasty. Your Asian sauce sounds good—I like sesame oil and sesame seeds. The flavor is very nice.
Thanks for sharing your recipe at the Homestead Blog Hop!
Be sure to come back again soon!
Blessings
Laurie
Ridge Haven Homestead
🏡
I can’t wait to try this out. I’m sure it is just as delicious as it looks. Thanks for sharing the recipe. #HomeMattersParty
I know I would want seconds, thirds… this looks scrumptious and could be GF. Thanks for sharing it and your other posts at FWF link party!
I absolutely love adding ginger to dishes like this. This looks amazing! I have pinned it. Thanks for linking!
Shelbee
http://www.shelbeeontheedge.com