Orange Chicken
Updated February 5, 2024
Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Cyd Raftus McDowell.
- Total Time
- About 1 hour
- Prep Time
- 10 minutes
- Cook Time
- 55 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
8 cups vegetable oil, plus more as needed
1 ¼ pound boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
⅛ teaspoon ground white pepper, optional
2 large oranges
⅓ cup lightly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 large eggs
1 ¼ cups cornstarch
1 teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 (½-inch) piece ginger, peeled and grated
½ to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper, to taste
2 scallions, thinly sliced
4 cups steamed jasmine rice, for serving
Preparation
- Step 1
Add 2 inches of vegetable oil to a large, heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven. Heat to 375 degrees over medium-high.
- Step 2
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine chicken, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, toasted sesame oil and white pepper. Mix until well combined and let marinate for 5 minutes. Grate oranges until you have 2 teaspoons of zest, then halve and squeeze oranges until you have 1 cup of juice. (Pulp in the juice is fine.) Add juice to a large bowl (save the zest for later) and whisk in the brown sugar, vinegar and remaining 1 tablespoon soy sauce; set aside.
- Step 3
Beat eggs in a pie dish or wide, shallow bowl. Add cornstarch to a second pie dish or bowl. Using your hands or tongs, transfer half of the marinated chicken to the egg mixture and toss until fully coated. Remove from the egg mixture, allowing excess to drip back into the dish, and transfer to the cornstarch. Toss until fully coated.
- Step 4
Using a slotted spoon, carefully transfer chicken into the hot oil, stir to separate the pieces and fry until golden brown and fully cooked, about 6 minutes. Transfer the chicken with the slotted spoon to a large paper towel-lined bowl. Sprinkle with ½ teaspoon salt.
- Step 5
Repeat with the remaining chicken. Allow the oil to return to 375 degrees before each batch.
- Step 6
While the chicken cools slightly, in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, add 2 teaspoons oil, garlic, ginger and crushed red pepper, to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally, until garlic and ginger are just golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Pour in the reserved orange juice mixture. Increase heat to medium and cook, scraping the bottom of the pot to remove any browned bits, until the mixture is thickened to the consistency of maple syrup, about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in the reserved orange zest.
- Step 7
Discard the paper towels from the bowl of fried chicken, pour in the sauce and toss until each piece is well coated. Transfer the orange chicken to plates and top with sliced scallions. Serve alongside steamed rice.
Private Notes
Comments
Can this be made in an air-fryer?
Can I use less cooking oil? 8 cups seems a huge number of cups?? Otherwise, this looks delicious!
Very good flavor and surprisingly balanced. Cooked the chicken in an air fryer at 375 but otherwise followed the recipe closely. After reading comments I added a bit of hot honey to the sauce and reduced on higher heat. That seemed to do the trick.
Just could not get this to work. No matter how long I cooked the orange juice mixture, it would not turn syrupy. Even at 30 minutes, pure liquid. This recipe is a failure.
The orange flavor is INTENSE with that sauce reduced to a syrup (which, like others say, takes more than 5 min).I omitted red pepper for my spice-averse kids, and without some heat I think the orange flavor is maybe a little too intense: all a matter of taste. I overcooked my chicken waiting for it to change color before I realized corn starch alone won't get golden brown, but notwithstanding the dry chicken the crust was great : just like Panda Express!
Loved the flavor of the orange chicken, but the sauce stayed a very watery consistency, rather than a sticky, maple syrupy glaze when I was heating it on the saucepan. I also probably used about 4-5 cups of oil, and it worked out fine!