So, when chicken breasts are $1.99 a pound or less I buy them in bulk. I cut some up into strips, some into cubes and leave some breasts whole. I add marinate to some of the bags of chicken before I freeze them. This way when I need cubed chicken, such as for this dish, I can open my freezer the night before to take out meat for the next day my chicken is already cubed for me I just need to thaw it.
This dish was a bit more involved than I normally make on a week night but I had extra time on my hands and it really wasn’t that much longer than usual. I will say I had more dirty dishes – 1 wok, 1 skillet, 1 saucepan (for rice) and 2 bowls – 1 for the sauce and 1 for the chicken slurry, several forks, tongs and spoons plus our normal dinner dishes.
Verdict:
Every dirty dish was worth it to us. It was sweet and sticky and had TONS of orange flavor. Both children really loved the flavor but thought there was just a tiny bit too much sauce. I made a ton of sauce because usually they like the extra sauce over the rice but they thought this was just a bit too much. If your family does not like extra sauce 1/2 the sauce recipe below and you should be fine.
Next time I will definitely add broccoli to it too as I think that would help with their thinking it was too saucy. But, I didn’t have any on hand last night to add.
I served this with a cut up vegetable platter of radishes and cucumbers.
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 lbs. chicken breasts, cubed
- 1 bunch of green onions, sliced and divided
- peanut oil, for frying chicken
- Sliced Baby Carrots, Chopped Red or Green Peppers, Broccoli Crowns, Chopped Cauliflower, your choice
- Brown Rice, if desired
Cornstarch Slurry: For Coating Chicken
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1 egg
- 1 cup cornstarch
Orange Sauce:
- 1 cup cornstarch
- 3 teaspoons fresh garlic, minced
- 1 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup white vinegar
- 1 3/4 cups chicken stock
- zest from one medium orange, no pith
- 1 tsp ground ginger
Directions:
- Mix all the Orange Sauce ingredients in a medium bowl until well combined and then set aside until ready to use.
- Mix Cornstarch Slurry ingredients in a second bowl until well combined. It will be slightly paste like in consistency.
- Place cut up vegetables in a skillet with a bit of peanut oil and cook slowly over medium heat. As they begin to cook if you are cooking brown rice begin it now and cook according to package directions.
- Place about 1″ of oil in the bottom of a second large wok or skillet. Heat until oil is about 325-350. Do not allow it to smoke. If it begins to smoke turn the heat down. Try to keep a consistent temperature.
- You will need to add chicken to the Cornstarch Slurry bowl in 2 or 3 batches as you cook each batch. Stir chicken and remove 7-8 chicken pieces with a fork allowing excess to drip off back into the bowl before placing chicken carefully into the hot oil.
- Cook until well browned on each side. Remove chicken from pan and drain on paper towels. Place chicken in a warmed oven, 170 degrees, while the rest of the chicken is cooking.
- Once all the chicken is cooked and vegetables are al dente wipe out the chicken pan and add just a touch of oil and 2/3 of the sliced green onions. Over medium heat stir fry for about 30 seconds once pan is warm.
- Stir Orange Sauce mixture being sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl to stir up any settled cornstarch and slowly add to the onions.
- Stir sauce until it slightly begins to thicken. Add vegetables to pan with sauce. Sauce will begin to thicken quickly so watch it carefully. If it is too thick add a bit of water to thin to desired consistency.
- Add chicken back to pan with sauce and vegetables and stir for a minute to completely coat the chicken.
- Remove from heat and serve over rice, if desired, garnishing with the extra onions.
What's for Dinner Moms? 