Spicy Orange Chicken

Name: Spicy Orange Chicken
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 6 servings.
Ingredients: 2 large navel oranges; 2 tablespoons cornstarch; 1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth; 1/3 cup rice vinegar; 1/4 cup honey; 1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce; 3 tablespoons lemon juice; 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced; 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes; 1-1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon pepper; 2 teaspoons canola oil, divided; Hot cooked rice; Sesame seeds and thinly sliced green onions

I created a citrusy version of General Tso's chicken. Top with sesame seeds and green onions, roasted red peppers and sugar snap peas. —Paula Williams, Covington, Kentucky

Ingredients

2 large navel oranges
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1-1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons canola oil, divided
Hot cooked rice
Sesame seeds and thinly sliced green onions

Directions

Finely grate peel from one orange; place peel in a small bowl. Cut a thin slice from the top and bottom of each orange; stand oranges upright on a cutting board. With a knife, cut off peel and outer membrane from oranges. Working over the small bowl with orange peel to catch juices, cut along the membrane of each segment to remove fruit; set sectioned oranges aside. Stir cornstarch, broth, vinegar, honey, soy sauce, lemon juice, jalapeno and pepper flakes into orange juice and peel.
Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat 1 teaspoon oil over medium-high heat. Add half of the chicken; stir-fry 5-7 minutes or until no longer pink. Remove from pan. Repeat with remaining oil and chicken.
Stir cornstarch mixture and add to pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir 1-2 minutes or until sauce is thickened. Stir in reserved orange sections. Serve with rice. Sprinkle servings with sesame seeds and green onions.

Editor's Note

Wear disposable gloves when cutting hot peppers; the oils can burn skin. Avoid touching your face.

Originally published as Emperor's Orange Chicken and Fried Rice in Holiday & Celebrations Cookbook 2015

Reviews

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swlists

Jan 3, 2019

I was excited to try this. I loved the fresh oranges idea but the sauce came out too vinegary for my taste. I may try making it again with about half the rice vinegar.
Lynne

Jan 3, 2018

I've been craving Chinese take-out, but one of my resolutions is to eat at home and avoid going out to eat or getting take out. Of course, I turned to TOH Take Out Fake Out for a make at home version. I was really thinking of making General Tso's Chicken, and this was as close as I could find, so I decided to give this a try. I am soooo glad that I did! I had chicken thighs on hand, so I used them in place of the chicken breasts - worked great! I also had a 5 lb bag of Cuties (tangelos), so I used some of them for the sectioned oranges. I followed the recipe exactly from there. I will definitely be making this again. The only thing I might do differently is to up the amount of chicken broth to a cup and probably 3 T of cornstarch so that there is more of the yummy sauce. My husband had this over rice, and while I would have loved it that way, I had mine over steamed broccoli to keep down the carbs. Delicious! Thanks for submitting this, Paula.Lynne, TOH Volunteer Field Editor