Orange Chicken

I am a sucker for good Chinese take out.   There something about how they deep fry the chicken or tofu and coat it in the perfect sticky sauce that is so hard to duplicate at home.   Orange chicken is something I don't often get but I do love the sweet and spicy flavors paired with the citrus.

My problem with orange chicken is that if you buy a bottle of the sauce from the store it tastes fake and plastic.  I've had several recipes I've tried at home and while some are good, none have really tasted close to the sauce you get at a restaurant.  I've also bought orange chicken meal kits and they aren't good at all.

When I found a recipe for Orange Chicken I almost threw it away but then I started looking at the ingredients and they were pretty different from the normal.  This recipe included fresh orange juice, fresh orange zest, orange marmalade, Sriracha, rice vinegar, soy sauce, and more.  I was eager to give it a try.

The smell of the sauce cooking was really mouthwatering.  It smelled a little sweet, a little spicy, and the fresh citrus really perfumed the air.  I was really looking forward to trying it. 

My first issue came with the chicken.  I was supposed to sip it in an egg white and cornstarch combination which I did.  However, it started coming off in the pan and ended up being a mess.  I scrapped that and just stir fried the chicken without a coating which turned out to be the right thing to do.

The rest of the meal went fine.   I got everything cooked and poured the sauce over top of the chicken and broccoli.   One bite and I know I got a smile on my face.  While this sauce wasn't exactly like the Orange Chicken sauce you get at a restaurant it was pretty good, tasted real, and was awesome.  My husband and I both agreed that this one is a keeper and we need to put it on our regular rotation.