I’m not too sure yet, but I’m tempted to change the title of this blog to “Adventures of a White Girl in Asian Fusion”. Catchy, yes? Its so easy to be excited when you have the proper cooking utensils and I must say, the new wok is fast becoming a treasured piece in my collection. On Monday night, I tried a new dish that I found on Rasa Malaysia that seemed a little challenging but a good step forward. I did make an addition, obviously, b/c I can’t leave well enough alone. In an attempt to promote a well-rounded meal, I added asparagus to the dish. Thus, Orange Zest Chicken with Asparagus was born in a wok on Monday night.
The most important thing that I learned through making this dish is be prepared. I had everything prep’d before I started the cooking procress. And while it seemed a little hectic in the beginning, the cooking phase was actually quite easy and quick. I first started by making the orange sauce that would be added at the very end. Next I made the batter for the chicken and then I prep’d the ingredients that would be fried together at the end.
Orange Sauce
- 1/4 cup orange juice, fresh squeezed
- 3 tbsp chicken broth
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- 2 tsp rice vinegar
- 4 tsp sugar
- pinch white pepper powder
- 1 tsp corn starch
Mix well and set aside.
Batter
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup – 1 tbsp flour
- 1/4 cup corn starch
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 egg, beaten
- 1 tsp canola oil
- salt
Mix batter well. Dunk chicken in batter to coat. Sit until time to cook chicken.
Orange Chicken Stir Fry
- 1 chicken breast, cubed
- 1 cup asparagus, blanched
- 1 inch ginger, zested
- 2 cloves garlic, zested
- 4 dried chilis (soak in hot water, remove seeds)
- 1 tsp orange zest
- 2 tsp canola oil
- Oil for deep drying
I used vegetable oil (about 1/2 cup) in the wok to shallow fry the chicken. I scooped out 5-6 pieces of chicken from the batter bath and dropped it into the wok. Once golden brown on one side, I turned the chicken pieces over. Complete process until all chicken pieces are cooked. Set aside on paper towel to drain.
Clean wok of oil. I actually saved the frying oil for another occasion in a mason jar. Its your choice.
Next, heat 2 tsp canola in wok. Quickly cook minced (I use a zester to grate) ginger and garlic. Next toss in chilis and cook for 1 minute. Add orange zest and chicken. Stir for one minute. Next add orange sauce, continuing to stir until sauce thickens slightly. Serve over steamed brown long grain rice.
How did it taste? Because it looks mouth watering good. I am too afraid of frying anything at home. Mainly because I don’t want to know how easy and delicious home frying can be. It’s a scary thought and slippery slope I don’t want to go down. Instead, we normally buy frozen orange chicken from Trader Joe’s once in a while.
But I might break my rule and try this recipe at home. You make it seem so easy!
Linda, it was really, really good. And, unlike Trader Joe’s, you know exactly what ingredients are in it and can control your sugar and salt content. And while this may sound crazy, for a ‘fried’ food, it really didn’t taste greasy at all. (Unlike the stir-fry veggies I made, where I glug’d too much oil in the pan!). So I’d say give it a try.. just once!
A great idea for future recipes this. Thank you for sharing it. Have you noticed how so many people appear to be cooking again? I wonder if the lack of funds due to the current climate has something to do with it and we all appear to be cooking again! its great!