ORANGE CHICKEN - CHINESE TAKEOUT STYLE, QUICK, EASY & BAKED, NOT FRIED.

Orange Chicken - Chinese takeout style, quick, easy & baked, not fried. image

Orange Chicken - quick, easy and baked, not fried; this Chinese style take out dish uses frozen orange juice concentrate as the base of the tangy sauce.

Provided by @MakeItYours

Number Of Ingredients 20

Ingredients

4 large boneless skinless chicken breasts (or 8 boneless skinless, well-trimmed chicken thighs)
tbsp a few peanut or canola oil
1 cup flour
1 tsp fine salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp powdered ginger
1 tsp five spice powder
1 egg + 2 Tbsp water
3 cloves minced garlic
1 tbsp peanut oil or canola oil
1 1/4 cups frozen orange juice concentrate, Approximately. I used a 295 ml container
1 tbsp freshly grated ginger root
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1 tsp Chinese five spice powder
2 tsp crushed chili paste, or chili flakes to taste
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
2 tbsp corn starch dissolved in 1/4 cup water

Steps:

Heat a cookie sheet in the oven at 425 degrees F. This speeds up the cooking time later.
Cut the chicken into about 2-bite pieces and season them lightly with salt and pepper
Sift together the flour, salt, pepper, powdered ginger and five spice powder.
Whisk together the egg and water to make an egg wash.
Dredge the chicken pieces into the flour dredge to coat them, then dip the pieces into the egg wash and back into the flour and spice dredge again.
Working quickly, retrieve the cookie sheet from the oven and lightly brush the entire bottom with the oil. Add the coated chicken pieces to the pan but don't crowd them together. They should not be touching. Lightly drizzle a little more oil over the chicken pieces. A spray bottle works well for this too.
Pop the chicken into the oven for 8 minutes. Take the pan out and turn the chicken pieces over before putting them back into the oven for another 7-8 minutes. Cut one open to see that they are fully cooked. This should be plenty of time at that temperature.
Toss the cooked chicken pieces wight he sauce and serve over steamed rice or Chinese noodles.
Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and chopped green onions if you like.
In a small saucepan over medium heat, quickly sauté the garlic in the peanut oil for only a minute or so.
Add all of the remaining ingredients to the pot, except the cornstarch and water.
Bring the sauce to a slow simmer for 5 minutes.
Stir the cornstarch into the water and immediately add it to the sauce stirring constantly. Simmer for only another minute, stirring constantly before serving.