Zesty Orange Chicken and Rice

Zesty Orange Chicken and Rice

History: Orange chicken is an American Chinese dish that seems to be inspired from Hunan cuisine, one of the eight regional cuisines found in China. It is widely popular in the United States and Canada and can be described as a variation of General Tao’s chicken rather than the authentic dish found in China. The Chinese use the orange peel in traditional medicine as well as in cooking.

Why It’s Awesome: It rivals any fast food Chinese restaurant dish, except you know exactly how it was made.

Always get your ingredients ready before starting the recipe!

Instead of Chinese Five-Spice Powder

Chicken Cubes

Ingredients and Portions:

• 2/3 cup warm water
• 2/4 cup packed brown sugar (Reduce if you don’t like your meals too sweet)
• 4 tablespoons orange juice
• 4 tablespoons soy sauce
• 4 tablespoons ketchup
• 2 tablespoon white vinegar
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (I like my food spicy)
• 2/4 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder (I used Szechuan pepper powder instead)
• 2 teaspoon grated orange peel
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cubed

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup uncooked white rice (You can use brown rice or jasmine rice as well)

• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons cold water
• chopped green onions for garnish

Servings: Allrecipes.com says this recipe yields 6 servings, but I would have to disagree. It serves 4 people maximum.

Sauce Mixture

Frying the Chicken

Adding the Sauce Mixture

While the chicken and sauce are simmering, it's time to make the rice.

Adding Cornstarch to Thicken the Sauce

Cooking time and Directions:

1.   In a bowl, stir together warm water, brown sugar, orange juice, soy sauce, ketchup, white vinegar, garlic, red pepper flakes, five-spice powder, and orange peel until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is well combined.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet or wok over medium heat, and cook and stir the chicken until the outside is golden brown and the inside is no longer pink, 10 to 12 minutes. Pour the sauce mixture over the chicken, bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and cover the skillet. Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. While the chicken and sauce are simmering, bring the rice and water to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the rice is tender, and the liquid has been absorbed, 20 to 25 minutes. Set the rice aside and keep warm.
4. Whisk the cornstarch and 2 tablespoons of cold water in a small bowl until smooth, and stir into the chicken and sauce, a few teaspoons at a time. Let the chicken and sauce cook for about 2 minutes to thicken, then serve over hot cooked rice, sprinkled with green onion.

Ready!!!

Nutritional Benefits: Chicken is one of the best sources of protein and contains very little fat compared to other meats. However, if you have a severe cholesterol problem, chicken does contain a considerable amount of cholesterol. Rice is in low in salt, fat and has no cholesterol. It is an excellent source of carbohydrates and provides a good source of energy for one’s body. To add nutritional value to this recipe, one can vegetables such as broccoli, mushrooms or bok choy.

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