Thursday, January 26, 2012

Make Your Own Takeout: Sticky Orange Chicken

Sticky.Sweet.Delicious

Hooray for healthy non-msg ridden Chinese food. Now, don't get me wrong. I am all about Chinese food from time to time. I crave Chinese food often so if I can cook it at home then that is a plus. The only problem I have with this is that most times my version of Chinese food isn't really that comparable to food you find in restaurants. That is...until now! 

My usual Chinese creations are on the bland side, which made me hope this one would be different. And indeed flavorful it was. This is a nice combination of sweet and spicy. Also let me add how easy it is to prepare. This was the first time I baked the floured chicken in the oven, while cooking the sauce on the stove top( on low- remember honey can burn). After tossing the chicken in the sauce I was amazed. It became super sticky and delicious. I popped some brown rice in the microwave and steamed some broccoli and BAM- you have a delicious and rather healthy meal. The recipe I was inspired by was from Skinny Mommy. She made honey sesame chicken and that is what recipe I will put on this blog. I had some oranges left over so I added orange zest. It gave the chicken a nice bright flavor. If you don't like orange, leave it out. No big deal. Actually, lemon would be great too. Yum. So try some "make your own takeout" today!

Here is the recipe! Could not be any easier!
Ingredients
1.25lbs of chicken, cut into cubes
Flour
1/2 cup honey
1 TBS of sesame oil
Sesame seeds (optional)
1-2 tsps of siracha or other Asian hot sauce
2 TBS low sodium soy sauce
zest of 1 orange ( optional)

Directions


Preheat the oven to 400. Sprinkle flour onto a plate and dip the chicken into it, shaking off the excess. Line a baking pan (with high sides) with parchment paper and add the chicken making sure it is spaced out. Bake for 15 minutes. 

While the chicken is baking, mix together the soy, sesame oil, soy, honey and siracha. Put ingredients in a pan and heat on low.

Take out the chicken and pour the sauce over it, stirring to coat each piece. 

Put the chicken back in the oven and bake for 10 minutes more, stirring a few times to be sure every piece is glazed evenly.



10 comments:

  1. This looks so tasty! I'm always on the hunt for new recipes to take the place of my old favorites from the questionable (at best) Chinese food joints, and this one is making my list! Thanks for sharing it!

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  2. So, a few months ago I found a recipe for crockpot orange chicken. It was so nasty that I vowed never to make my favorite dish again. You've just opened my world! Thanks!

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  3. I'm so glad you girls like it! If you try it out let me know. I think you will be happy as to how delicious it is! Enjoy!

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  4. Orange chicken is my favorite Chinese dish. Looks looks super easy and delicious (and way healthier than take-out!)

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  5. This looks perfect!! Love your recipes AND your pictures! :)

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  6. We just love Orange Chicken and do order them all the time... Have to try them soon:)

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  7. This does look easy and wonderful!! You're right that its hard to make good chinese at home, so I am going to give this a try. Yummy!

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  8. oh yum i'm such a sucker for orange chickn.

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  9. I was attracted by the easiness of this recipe, but it didn't turn out as sweet as I would have hoped.
    The verdict:

    2 tablespoons of sirracha is a lot, but I used it thinking I could handle the heat. 1 teaspoon - tablespoon seems like a better idea just for a slight tinge of spice vs overpowering.
    I also only grated half an orange of zest into my sauce. In the end the orange peel taste was still there a bit too much.
    The chicken gets very soft in the oven as well, perhaps a bit of frying after baking might give it some more texture.

    Served over steamed broccoli and brown minute rice.
    Not bad. Thank you for the recipe.

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  10. Thanks for trying it out Jenna!

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