hello! Hi everyone, Wesley here. Today we’re diving back into our series dedicated to deconstructing Americanized Chinese cuisine with a shot at the legendary Orange Chicken from Panda Express. For those new to the channel, in this series, we have been taking apart iconically Americanized dishes from Chinese cuisine, and then seeing what it might look like if we were to cook the dish through the lens of more traditional Chinese wok cooking. And yes, for those following along, this is in fact the longest running series on this channel and we somehow have not gotten to the single most iconic dish on the Panda Express menu, and that is because, Panda Express actually published the recipe to this dish on Tasty not too long ago. And, if I’m being absolutely honest, it…doesn’t sound very good. Not because it’s not authentically “Chinese” or whatever that means, but honestly, it just sounds kinda bland. So! I’m gonna do my absolute best to stick to the rubric of the task at hand today and not stray TOO far from our original inspiration (while also coming up with something that you know…tastes good).
Panda Express’ Orange Chicken iconically features the use of orange juice and vinegar along with a healthy portion of sugar, which combine to create that iconic sweet and savory sauce base that we all know and love. Then finally, cause I guess it’s the whole point of this series, I also thought I’d take a shot at reimagining what orange chicken might look like if it were a part of traditional Asian cuisine. For our attempt today, this turned out as a Japanese inspired orange miso chicken karaage, done with a bit of mandarin orange (in lieu of orange juice). Hope you try it.
Serves 2-3
INGREDIENTS
4 cloves garlic
1 inch (about 1 tbsp) ginger
2 medium chicken thighs
1 orange (zest)
peanut oil
48oz fryer oil (canola or other neutral oil)
INGREDIENTS (breading)
2 eggs
1/4 cup corn starch
1/4 cup AP flour
INGREDIENTS (sauce)
4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce (or 2 tbsp full sodium soy sauce)
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tbsp sesame oil
4 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp chili oil
PREP
CRUSH and mince 4 cloves of garlic, set aside
MINCE ginger, set aside
LARGE DICE the chicken thighs, set aside
WHISK the eggs in one bowl, then combine the AP flour and corn starch in a separate bowl
DIP the chicken in the egg first, then the flour/corn starch second, set aside
COMBINE all sauce ingredients, set aside
ON THE STOVE
HEAT the fryer oil to 350F, then add the chicken in 15 pieces at a time, maintaining the fryer temperature above 325 at a minimum
FRY the chicken for 5 minutes until golden brown, then remove to a dry rack to cool
REMOVE the fryer oil, reheat the wok, add 4 tbsp peanut oil and long yao
ADD the garlic and ginger and toss until fragrant for about 15 seconds
ADD the sauce mixture and reduce by about 30%
ADD the chicken back to the wok and toss to combine
FINISH with orange zest