Chinese Orange Chicken Lightened-Up

Gooood Evening!!  It has been entirely too long since my last post.  Unfortunately, a person who shall go unnamed dropped my camera on the hardwood floor and smashed my cute little lens to smithereens. I had to hold back the tears when it happened. RIP little guy.  I shall always remember you.  Fortunately, I received my new lens in the mail just the other day.  So here I am, back at da food blogging.

I have been waiting for this day to come for years.  I am dead serious.  I have been trying to make a healthier version of Chinese restaurant style orange chicken for many moons. I am in love with Chinese food, especially the dishes with deep-fat fried breaded pieces smothered in sugary sauces (yes, I know this is Americanized Chinese food for you food snobs who will undoubtedly leave a nasty comment correcting me).  Regrettably, I know from experience that if you eat this type of thing every night you will gain weight.  So, I have tried and tried to come up with a recipe that is sort of lightened up and tastes like the real thing. The sauce is the key to making this dish work. No store-bought sauce will do.  I even tried the new Panda Express Orange sauce from Costco.   Ladies and Gentlemen, I am here to tell you after countless attempts, I think I am finally satisfied.!While it might not be super healthy, it is healthIER than the restaurant versions.  I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did!

Chinese Orange Chicken Lightened-Up

Chicken

1 lb Skinless Boneless Chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces

4 Tablespoons Flour

Salt and Pepper

1 Tablespoon Vegetable or Canola Oil

Optional:

Steamed Broccoli

Whole Wheat Noodles

Add flour, salt and pepper to a medium ziplock bag.

  Add chicken and toss until all chicken pieces are evenly coated.

  Heat oil over medium high heat in a large skillet. 

 Add chicken pieces and cook for 3 minutes until browned on one side and then turn over and cook another 3 minutes until cooked through. 

 Turn heat down to very low and add enough sauce to fit your tastes. 

I serve mine over broccoli and whole wheat spaghetti. 

Orange Sauce

(Depending on your tastes, this probably makes way more sauce than you will need for this recipe)

1/3 Cup Orange Juice

½ Cup Rice Wine Vinegar (Must be rice wine and not regular white vinegar)

½ Cup White Sugar

2.5 Tablespoons Soy Sauce

1 Tablespoon Orange or Lemon Zest (I use lemon)

½ Tablespoon Toasted Sesame Oil

2 Teaspoons Corn Starch

1 Tablespoon Red Pepper flakes (more or less depending on your preference for heat)

Mix corn starch into orange juice until lumps are gone.  Add orange juice mixture and rest of the ingredients together in a small sauce pan over medium heat. 

 Bring to a boil and cook until sauce thickens and coats the back of a spoon – about five minutes. 

 If it doesn’t get thick, then add a little more cornstarch mixed in water. Set aside.

Thanks to my friends over at Spark Recipes I was able to calculate the calories in each serving (this is using all the sauce).  Pretty good compared to the typical 400 calories and 20 grams of fat in the same serving size at a restaurant.

Holy yum!

Love,

Lindzee