My copycat Panda Express Orange Chicken is sticky, sweet and tangy. Succulent chicken pieces with a crispy coating and plenty of that delicious sauce. Ready in 20 minutes too!
Prep Time: 5 mins | Cook Time: 15 mins | Total Time: 20 mins
Ingredients
- Juice of 2 large oranges
- Zest of half an orange
- 4 tbsp caster sugar or superfine sugar
- 5 tbsp soy sauce make sure it’s gluten-free soy sauce if you’re gluten intolerant
- 2 cloves of garlic peeled and crushed
- 1 thumb sized piece of ginger peeled and minced (or 1 tsp of ginger paste)
- 1 tsp rice vinegar
- 3 chicken breasts chopped into chunks
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)
- pinch of salt and pepper
- 1 red bell pepper sliced
- 200 g sugar snap peas (snow peas)
To Serve:
- Boiled rice
- 4 spring onions/scallions chopped on the diagonal
Instructions
- Mix the orange juice, zest, sugar, soy sauce, garlic, ginger and rice vinegar. Pour into a zip lock bag with the chicken and leave to marinade for a couple of hours or overnight (it’s not absolutely essential to marinate, so don’t worry if you don’t).
- When you’re ready to cook, pour the marinade into a small pan . Bring to the boil, then let it simmer gently to reduce down a little. If it’s looking too dry, add in a splash of water (this is also a good time to put your rice on).
- Heat the oil in a wok or large frying. Pat the chicken dry with some kitchen roll, then mix the cornflour with the salt and pepper and toss the chicken in the cornflour until completely coated. When the oil is hot, tip the chicken in and fry until crispy. I try not to move the meat around too much as this seems to reduce the amount of crispiness you get. It generally takes about 9 or 10 minutes to crisp up the chicken, with about 3 or 4 stirs during that time. Some people would say to crisp the chicken in batches, but I’m far too lazy for all that, and so long as you’re using a large pan, and very hot oil you can get away with doing the lot in one go. Once the chicken is crispy and cooked through, remove the chicken using a slotted spoon, and place in a bowl lined with kitchen roll to soak up excess fat.
- There should still be a little oil left in the pan at this point. Turn the heat down a little and add the sliced red pepper and sugar snap peas. Fry for a minute or two, then pour over the orange sauce. Turn up the heat and add the chicken back in. Give it a stir and heat through for 1 minute. If your sauce is looking too thin, you can stir in a cornflour slurry (1 tsp cornflour mixed with 3 tsp cold water) to thicken.
- Once bubbling and thick, serve up with boiled rice. Garnish with the spring onions/scallions.
Nutritional Information
