This is a recipe for Chinese Orange Chicken that makes impressively crispy chicken pieces without deep frying. The sauce has great orange flavour.
Crispy Chicken
Sauce
Serving
Mix chicken with soy, ginger, pepper and 2 tbsp cornflour, then coat in remaining cornflour. Clench few pieces in fist, shake off excess cornflour in colander. Shallow-fry until deep golden. Remove oil, sauté garlic, simmer sauce 2 min until thickened. Add zest, toss chicken, serve!
Orange sauce - Whisk the cornflour and soy sauce in a large jug or medium bowl until lump free. Then whisk in everything else except garlic and orange zest. Set aside.
Coat chicken - Mix the chicken pieces with the soy sauce, ginger, pepper and the 2 tablespoons of cornflour in a large bowl. Mix well - the coating becomes a bit sticky and acts as a glue. Add the 3/4 cup cornflour and toss to coat each piece, separating as needed (they stick together a bit).
Press and shake off - Pick up a few pieces and enclose in your fist, to really press the cornflour on. Place in a colander, then repeat with remaining chicken. Shake colander so excess cornflour falls through the holes. This press-and-shake method is highly effective crispy no-fry technique!
Shallow-fry until crispy - Heat the oil on high heat in a large deep non-stick pan (mine is 30cm/12"). The chicken should sizzle straight away when you dip it. Spread half the chicken out (or as much as you can, without crowding), and cook for 1 1/2 minutes on each side, using tongs to turn, until deep golden and crispy. Remove onto a paper towel lined tray and repeat with remaining chicken.
Sauté - Pour out all but 2 tablespoons of the oil and scrape out any loose crispy bits. Return the pan to medium high heat. Sauté garlic until light golden, about 20 - 30 seconds.
Thicken sauce - Give the sauce a whisk (to mix cornflour settled on the base) then pour it in the pan. Simmer for 1 to 2 minutes until it thickens into a thick, glossy syrup (honey consistency). Stir in zest.
Toss - Put the chicken back into the pan and toss quickly to coat in the sauce. Serve over rice, garnished with green onion.