This is the best orange chicken recipe. It is made with battered chicken breast fried until crispy and covered in a sticky chinese orange sauce. It's easier to make at home than you think and full of flavour!
My chinese orange chicken recipe is best served over white rice topped with sesame seeds and shallots. You can add any extra vegetables you like to this recipe that you might want to use in the fridge, like capsicum, onion or green beans. You could also add them as a side for the fussy little ones that wouldn't like to have the vegetables mixed in the chicken.
Ingredients
Batter
- egg white
- plain flour
- cornflour
- baking powder
- ice cold water
- vegetable oil
- salt
Sauce
- sesame oil for frying garlic
- orange juice
- caster sugar
- rice vinegar or white vinegar
- soy sauce
- ginger paste
- minced or fresh garlic
- orange zest
- corn flour
- chilli flakes optional
Garnish
- sesame seeds
- shallots
- orange zest
See the recipe card below for quantities and the full recipe.
Instructions
There's no need to order chinese takeaway when you can make delicious meals at home like my honey chicken which has become a family favourite recipe.
Mix all batter ingredients together and whisk until combined.
Add the diced chicken to the batter and mix. Once the oil is heated, drop pieces of chicken into the oil with a tablespoon.
In a bowl, mix the sauce ingredients (except garlic, ginger and orange zest) together in a bowl and set aside.
Heat a saucepan on a medium heat and add sesame oil. Fry off garlic and ginger paste for around 30 seconds.
Add the sauce mix to the pot and simmer (around 3 - 5 minutes) while whisking regularly.
Remove the sauce from the heat and pour over the chicken in the bowl. Mix chicken to coat with sauce.
Tips
- You don't have to deep fry the chicken, a shallow fry works perfectly fine. Just make sure you turn the chicken halfway so that it cooks evenly.
- Make sure you use ice water for the batter. You can keep pieces of ice in the water and ensure it's mixed well and melted in the batter before adding the chicken. A super cold batter will make for a crunchy and thick coating on the chicken. I have made it without the ice, and it works too, the batter just isn't as crispy.
- Serve the honey chicken with either fried or plain rice.
- Add some vegetables as a side or mix through the chicken.
The Best Orange Chicken
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Ingredients
- 500 grams diced chicken breasts
- 2 cups vegetable oil for frying enough to fill the bottom of the pan to shallow fry
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds to put on top at the end of the recipe
Batter
- 1 egg white
- ½ cup plain flour, sifted
- ¼ cup cornflour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup ice cold water
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
Sauce
- ½ teaspoon crushed ginger paste
- 1 teaspoon mined or 2 cloves of fresh garlic
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 cup orange juice
- ½ cup caster sugar
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar White vinegar would work as a substitute
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon corn flour
- ½ teaspoon chilli flakes optional
Garnish
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
- shallots
- orange zest
Instructions
- Heat oil on a medium heat in a frypan. You will want the oil to be around 3 cm deep to fry the chicken to shallow fry.
- Mix all batter ingredients together and whisk until combined.
- Add the diced chicken to the batter and mix.
- Once the vegetable oil is heated, drop pieces of chicken into the oil with a tablespoon.
- Be careful not to overcrowd the pan. Move the chicken around in the oil to make sure it's cooked evenly. Cook the chicken until lightly brown (this should take around 8 minutes, depending on how thick your chicken is).
- Remove the chicken and set it aside to drain on paper towel.
Orange Sauce
- In a bowl, mix the sauce ingredients (except garlic and ginger) together in a bowl and set aside.
- Heat a saucepan on a medium heat and add sesame oil. Fry garlic and ginger paste for around 30 seconds.
- Add the sauce mix to the saucepan and simmer (around 3 - 5 minutes) while whisking regularly.
- The sauce should be thick and have a honey-like constancy.
- Remove the sauce from the heat and pour over the chicken in the bowl. Mix chicken to coat with sauce.
- Serve over rice, topped with orange zest, chilli flakes and shallots.
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided is computer generated and is only an estimate. This data is provided as a courtesy for informational purposes only.
Brayden Grantham
I was Oh So Busy until I found this recipe.