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Orange Chicken

A

Approx 900g-1 kg of chicken thighs, skinless and boneless, cut into rough 1 cm cubes

Enough oil to deep fry the chicken

B

1 tbsp Soya Sauce

Orange zest of one large orange

Juice of 1/2 a large orange

1tbps Chinese Cooking Wine (could use sake if you want)

1-2tsp 5 Spice

2stp Sesame Seed Oil

1-2tsp Rice wine vinegar

2 garlic cloves, minced (or grated on a microplane)

giner (roughly the same amount as the garlic) also minced (or used a microplane)

1 tsp ground pepper

2-3 tsp honey

C

1 tbs salt

1tsp white pepper

160-190g potato starch

300-330g flour

1 egg

1 1/2 cups water

2tbs oil (veg oil or peanut oil are fine)

D

1 tsp oil

1/4 tsp chili flakes (more if you like it spicy)

1/tsp ginger (minced)

1 tbsp garlic (minced)

50 grams white sugar

50 grams brown sugar

1/4 cup orange juice

1/4 cup white vinegar

2 tbsp soya sauce

Mix 2 tbsp of water and 2 tbps corn starch and set aside

(optional: extra tsp of sesame seed oil)

E

2 green onions, slice on the diagonal

1 tbps sesame seeds

Instructions:

Mix B in a large bowl. This is your marinade. The amounts here not fixed. Use your judgement and make just enough to coat the chicken.

Add A to the bowl and marinate the chicken for at least on hour.

Mix C. This is the batter.

Have all of D (your sauce ingredients) ready.

To cook:

Heat oil to deep fry the chicken. Cooking in small batches so you don't overcrowd, coat each piece of chicken in the batter and then cook until golden. Remember that the chicken will continue to cook for a bit after you remove it from the oil. Set the cooked chicken on a wire rack over a baking sheet or other dish to let the chicken drain off any excess oil.

What to do with D: When the chicken is all cooked, make the sauce. In a large saucepan or wok (big enough to hold all the chicken), add everyting except the liquid and corn starch mixure. Heat up and mix well. When it is good and hot add the liquid (soya sauce, orange juice and vinegar), stir and then add the corn starch mixture and cook until it reaches a syrupy texture. Kind of like maple syrup. Then turn off the heat and add the chicken. Stir the chicken thoroughly into the sauce to coat.

To serve sprinkle with the green onion and sesame seeds. (As an extra, you can cut some small orange triangles and add them to the sauce at the last minute as an additional bit of garnish and colour).

Notes: The marinate is my addition and I don't measure these ingredients when I make it, I go by taste. Don't use too much vinegar in the marinate though. The original recipe uses corn starch instead of potato starch, but you get a crispier result with potato starch. I use pastry flour as I don't want a flour that has a high gluten content in the batter. A high gluten flour is not ideal for deep frying because it can lead to a chewy and greasier product because gluten absorbs moisture and fat.