Panda Express Orange Chicken (Homemade) - Better Than Takeout

An orange chicken with a crispy coating that keeps for a long time! This recipe combines a wealth of Asian cooking secrets for an orange chicken that stays crispy for hours after being dipped in the orange sauce. The Chinese fried batter produces a crispy, puffy coating that is light and non-greasy, and requires no special ingredients or equipment!

Ingredients

CHICKEN & MARINADE:

▢ 300 g / 10oz chicken thighs, skinless boneless, cut into 2.5cm/1" pieces
▢ 1 tbsp soy sauce ( NOT dark soy)
▢ 1/2 tsp blackpepper
▢ 2 tsp Chinese cooking wine
▢ 2 tsp cornflour/cornstarch

STAY-CRISPY PUFFY BATTER:

▢ 6 tbsp cornflour/cornstarch
▢ 4 tbsp flour , plain/all purpose
▢ 7-8 tbsp COLD soda water, club soda or seltzer water
▢ 1/4 tsp baking powder
▢ 1/4 tsp salt

Orange Sauce:

▢ 1 large orange
▢ 50 g sugar
▢ 2 tbsp soy sauce
▢ 1 tbsp rice vinegar
▢ 1 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch) mixed with 3 tbsp cold water to form a slurry, (optional)

Instructions

MARINATE & DUST THE CHICKEN:

Cut the chicken breast against the grain into 2.5cm/1" pieces. This will make the chicken tender and juicy.
Marinate: Mix the chicken with soy sauce, cooking wine, black pepper and cornstarch in a bowl. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Dusting: Spread the cornflour on a plate. Coat the chicken with the cornflour, shake off the excess and place on a plate. Repeat the process with all the chickens.

BATTER & FRY #1:

Heat the oil: Heat the oil to 180°C/350°F over medium heat.
Prepare the batter: Whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. Pour in the soda water and mix well.
Pour a few drops of the batter into the oil pan. If the batter floats up immediately, the oil is at the right temperature.
Dredging: Dredge about 8 chicken pieces in the batter. Turn them to coat them and then carefully place them in the oil.
Fry #1: Fry the chicken for 3 minutes until lightly golden and crispy - when you pick them up, you'll see that they're very crispy.
Drain and repeat: Transfer to a rack and repeat with the remaining chicken - I roast in 4 batches so the pot doesn't get too crowded and the oil temperature doesn't drop too much.
Leave the chicken to cool for 20 minutes. In the meantime, prepare the sauce.

ORANGE SAUCE:

Squeeze an orange to extract the juice.
Place the ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to the boil.
Add the corn slurry in 2 batches to control the consistency.
Turn off the heat and put the lid on to keep the sauce warm.

FRY #2 - FOR ULTRA CRISPY!

Heat the oil to 200°C/390°F.
Add half of the chicken fry for 90 seconds until it turns from pale golden to very golden (but not dark golden or the chicken will overcook), then remove to a rack. More golden = crispier chicken.
Repeat the process with the remaining chicken. (Feel the chicken - you'll see that it stays crispy until the end)

TOSS IN THE SAUCE AND SERVE:

Place the chicken in a saucepan with the sauce and toss quickly with a rubber spatula until coated with the sauce. (The sauce will thicken if you wait too long, so be quick!)
Layer the chicken over the crispy noodles (if using), sprinkle with sesame seeds and spring onions and serve!

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?I love hearing how it turned out! Leave me a comment and make sure to leave a rating below.