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Chinese Orange Chicken

4K views 24 replies 15 participants last post by  oregonyeti 
#1 ·
  Does anyone have any suggestions of how to make this dish to have more of an orange flavor?
 
#4 ·
Frozen Orange Juice Concentrate UNDELUTED will give you the strongest flavor/img/vbsmilies/smilies/chef.gif
 
#7 ·
I sometimes add orange oil to OJ  concentrate
 
#8 ·
I see a couple of good options here.
Have never used the dried tangerine but since citrus zest is a common ingredient in baked goods I assume the whole fruit would add a great deal of flavor without having to compensate for the added sweetness a concentrated juice would bring to the table.

Flavored oils (LorAnn is my go to brand) have become very popular since coming on the market.
Hyper-concentrated so you only need a few drops.
Just pure flavor with no aftertaste no one need know it is even there if you choose not to mention it.

mimi
 
#9 · (Edited)
I was going to start a new thread but found this old one. I am thinking about how to duplicate something I just tasted at a Hunan restaurant in the sticks (Lapine, Oregon).

My daughter's favorite food is orange chicken. A few days ago she ordered it at a restaurant we went to for the first time, and it's her favorite version, and not like any other she or I have had.

My first impression was skewered and grilled pieces of chicken thigh in a sauce made of marmalade and soy sauce. I'm pretty sure the restaurant doesn't use marmalade, but who knows... it just tasted like it to me. There were little slightly crunchy slivers of orange zest (or other citrus zest) on it and I also tasted ginger. So I'm thinking the ingredients are skewered chicken, soy sauce, fried orange zest (???), fresh ginger and a lot of sugar. The sauce was very umami and dark brown, and almost syrupy. It was too sweet for me, but I would love to be able to make this for my daughter some time.

Any ideas on what the recipe might be? I'm thinking there might be a fairly standard recipe out there. I would ask the restaurant but they're 150 miles away and the server was not very nice.
 
#14 ·
I use fresh squeezed orange juice in the sauce, and along the line Billy suggests I saute the orange zest, adding it to the garlic, ginger, and peppers after they have sauted for a couple moments, and then toss with the deep fried chicken pieces.   
 
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#19 ·
I've worked in two(2) Asian places. Both used the same mix, done in the pan. Marmalade, soy (easy splash), rice-wine vinegar (easy splash), chx stock (for viscosity) and OJ (just another splash). The chx was cooked in the wok for a minute in oil with a few drops of sesame oil, then everything was put in 1x1 and it was cooked down for another two(2) minutes. Asian restaurants use jet-engine stoves, so you probably aren't going to cook as fast. The chx was heavily dusted/dredged with a mix of baking powder and rice flour.
 
#22 · (Edited)
5 medium boneless skinless thighs, cut into pieces. Fry with 1 T of oil or less, uncovered.Stir occasionally and fry 'til browned, about 25-30 minutes, but go by appearance and not time. I took the time to take the skin off and cut the meat off the bone, but you don't have to.

Sauce: mix 6 T marmalade, 1/4 c. soy sauce and 1/2 cup sugar. Warm this in the microwave.

When the chicken is done, take the pieces out of the pan (and leave the oil in the pan, do not use), and mix chicken with the sauce mixture.

My recipe now.
 
#23 · (Edited)
The chx was heavily dusted/dredged with a mix of baking powder and rice flour.
I'm pretty sure that should have been corn starch. Sorry. LOL @ ME ... I could still be wrong.

Oregon ... are you sure you want to fry that for 25-30 minutes?
 
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