Unfried Orange Chicken

At the last base we were stationed at there was absolutely no good Chinese restaurants there. Their idea of Orange chicken was to take chicken grizzle and dredge in flour and fry it. Needless to say I didn't eat Chinese food while stationed there. However when I would visit my parents house I would ALWAYS go out to a Chinese food place called Ling Lings and would end up binge eating to make up for lost time. So with that in mind I decided that in order to keep from gaining 10 pounds every time I would visit my family I would have to learn to make the Chinese foods I love at home. I looked on the internet, which is the best place to look for recipes and I found a recipe I liked. I changed it a tiny bit so that instead of dredging the chicken in flour, I would just saute the chicken as is. It not only saves on cooking time but also makes it a tiny bit more figure friendly. Now if you want to make it with the coating on it just place flour in a zip lock bag and toss the chicken in and then fry it in a pan. Then continue with the recipe.

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts; cut into bite size chunks

• Orange Sauce:
• 1 1/2 c. water
• 2 Tbsp orange juice
• 1/4 c. lemon juice
• 1/3 c. rice vinegar
• 2 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp grated orange zest
• 1 c. packed brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp minced ginger
• 1/2 tsp minced garlic
• 2 Tbsp green onion; chopped
• 3 dried pepper pods/ dried red chili peppers
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

• (added later)
• 3 Tbsp cornstarch
• 2 Tbsp water

• Sesame seeds for garnish (optional)

1. Pour water, orange juice, lemon juice, rice vinegar and soy sauce into a saucepan and set over medium- high heat. Stir in orange zest, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, pepper pods, green onions and red pepper flakes. When mix comes to a boil remove from head and let cool for about 10 to 15 minutes.
2. Place chicken in a zip lock bag and pour 1 cup of the sauce in with the chicken. Try to get out as much air as possible so that the chicken is fully submerged in the sauce. Let the chicken marinate at least 2 hours. If you can do it over night then that is even better. Store the rest of the sauce in the refrigerator as well.
3. Pour about 2 Tbsp of oil on the bottom of a skillet over medium heat, just enough so that the chicken won't stick to the bottom of the pan. Place the chicken in the skillet and cook until brown on both sides. It is ok if the chicken isn't fully cooked. Once the chicken is browned take it out of the skillet. Wipe out the skillet to get the chicken residue off of it.
4. Add the sauce into the skillet and bring it to a boil over medium- high heat. Mix together the cornstarch and water and stir the mix into the sauce. Reduce the heat to medium low and add the chicken into the skillet. Simmer for about 5 minutes stirring occasionally.

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Eat At Home