Baked Orange Chicken
Serves 4
Adapted from Dinner then Dessert
½ cup breadcrumbs
(An easy go-to for me is to leave 2 slices of bread, uncovered on a plate, for at least 10 hours)
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bit-sized pieces
2 large eggs, beaten
¼ cup flour
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2-3 inch piece ginger, zested
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (plus more for garnish)
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
4 tablespoons fresh squeezed orange juice
1 teaspoon sesame seed oil
3 tablespoons soy sauce
6 tablespoons brown sugar
7 tablespoons white vinegar
Zest from 1 orange
1 tablespoon cornstarch (you can add more if you want a thicker sauce)
2 green onions, for garnish
Sesame seeds, for garnish
Rice, for serving
Preheat the oven to 400°F. If you need to breakdown the bread into breadcrumbs, add the bread to a food processor and pulse until the bread consistency is in the range from somewhat-coarse to very fine.
Add the breadcrumbs to a small bowl, the eggs in a second bowl, and the flour in a third bowl. Have your baking tray at the ready. Dip each piece of chicken in the flour, then the egg, and then the breadcrumbs and lay it on your baking tray. Repeat these steps for the remaining chicken.
Once all of your chicken has been breaded, lightly brush each piece with vegetable oil (no need to drench each piece, a few small dabs, at most, will do). Bake for 20-25 minutes, until cooked through and crispy. I’ll usually bake it for 20 minutes, check the color and doneness of the chicken and reassess how much additional time to bake for.
While the chicken is baking, prepare your rice as you normally would.
Simultaneously, get started on the sauce by adding ½-1 tablespoons vegetable oil, ginger, garlic, red pepper flakes, rice wine vinegar, fresh squeezed orange juice, sesame seed oil, soy sauce, brown sugar, white vinegar, and orange zest to a small cooking pot. Heat over medium-low heat and stir everything so it’s well mixed and the brown sugar is dissolve.
Prepare your cornstarch slurry by adding the cornstarch to a small bowl and adding a few drops of water. Mix it with a fork until it’s smooth and all the cornstarch has been incorporated with the water.
Once the orange sauce starts to boil, start stirring the sauce, with one hand, and slowly pour in the smooth cornstarch mixture with the other hand. Continue stirring constantly for about 2 minutes until the sauce starts to thicken. Gauge whether the sauce is thick enough for your liking. If you want to add more cornstarch, repeat the process of making the slurry and slowly pouring it into the sauce as you stir the orange mixture.
Once the sauce has reached your desired thickness, take it off the heat.
Once the chicken is baked, place the chicken in a large bowl and pour the orange sauce over it. You can reserve some of the sauce if you want to use it as garnish later. Carefully mix the sauce and the chicken together until the sauce has fully coated the chicken.
To serve, divide up the rice, add the orange chicken on top, and garnish with sesame seeds, green onions, and red pepper flakes, if desired.
Enjoy!
