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How to Make Homemade "Mall" Style Orange Chicken

Ingredients

For the chicken

  • 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs cut into 1-½” cubes
  • 1 ½ cups low protein flour cake flour
  • 1 cup panko bread crumbs
  • 2 eggs beaten
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper
  • Oil for frying I used canola

For the orange sauce

  • 1 ½ cups water
  • ¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice I used 1 Valencia orange
  • ⅓ cup rice vinegar
  • 2 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon orange zest grated
  • 1 cup packed light or dark brown sugar I used dark
  • ½ teaspoon ginger root minced
  • ½ teaspoon garlic minced
  • 2 tablespoons green onion chopped (optional)
  • ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes optional

To thicken the sauce

  • 3 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 2 tablespoons water

Instructions

To coat the chicken

  • I like to use pie or cake pans whenever I coat chicken or seafood. I put flour (seasoned with salt and pepper) in one, the eggs in another, and the panko in the last one. The chicken goes into the flour first, then into the egg, and finally into the panko.

To fry the chicken

  • Heat up your oil to 375 degrees. I like using a cast iron dutch oven to do my frying in. A handy deep fry thermometer will help you to maintain the proper temperature.
  • Be careful not to add too much chicken at one time, or you will cool the oil down too much.
  • Be patient, work in batches until all your chicken is golden brown. I like to keep my chicken warm by placing it in the oven set to the lowest possible setting.

To make the sauce

  • Place the 1 ½ cups of water, orange juice, rice vinegar, and soy sauce into a sauce pan over medium heat. Give a good stir allow to cook for a few mintues - for the flavors to combine.
  • Then add in the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil.
  • While this is going on stir the water and corn starch together.
  • Stir slowly into the pan and cook until the mixture has thicken.

Notes

Serving Suggestions
Serve the chicken over a bed of sushi rice along with broccoli or cooked bok choy. I recommend just keeping the sauce separate from the chicken and just serving it over the chicken when ready. That way leftover chicken will still have a chance at maintaining that crispiness.