This is the best Orange Chicken I've ever had! It brimming with fresh orange flavor and it far outdoes the popular Chinese chain restaurants. You get bite size pieces of chicken that are fried to golden brown perfection and they're coated in the most amazing, sweet and sticky orange sauce. Talk about delicious comfort food!
Chopped green onions and sesame seeds,for garnish (optional)
Instructions
Place chicken pieces in a gallon size resealable bag, set aside.
In a medium saucepan combine chicken broth, orange zest, orange juice, vinegar, soy sauce, granulated sugar, ginger, yellow onion, garlic, Sriracha and pepper.
Whisk mixture well, then measure out 2/3 cup of the mixture and pour it over the chicken in resealable bag.
Seal bag while pressing excess air out, and press chicken into marinade.
Place bag in a bowl or baking dish and refrigerate 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, return remaining sauce mixture over medium heat and bring mixture just to a boil, stirring frequently.
In a small bowl whisk together 2 Tbsp cornstarch with 2 Tbsp water then stir mixture into sauce.
Reduce heat to medium-low and cook 1 - 2 minutes longer, stirring constantly, until thickened, remove from heat.
Pour vegetable oil into a large cast iron dutch oven, filling pot about 1 1/2 - 2-inches deep and heat oil to 350 degrees.
Meanwhile, whisk eggs in a shallow dish until well blended.
Pour remaining 1 1/4 cups cornstarch into a separate shallow dish.
Remove chicken from refrigerator and drain and discard marinade from chicken.
Dip chicken pieces into egg followed by cornstarch and toss pieces to evenly coat in cornstarch, then carefully place 1/3 of the chicken pieces into preheated oil and cook for 5 - 7 minutes until golden, turning once during cooking.
Using skimmer, remove fried chicken from oil and transfer to a paper towel lined cookie sheet to drain excess oil.
Repeat process with remaining chicken working in two more batches. Pour drained fried chicken into a bowl and toss with sauce.
Serve warm over white or brown rice garnished with green onions and sesame seeds if desired.
Notes
Fry the chicken in batches to prevent the oil temperature from dropping. The oil needs to stay hot enough to fry the chicken properly.