Gluten Free Orange Chicken

We have had quite a bit of success with this orange chicken recipe.

Rarely is there any left overs when we make Orange Sesame Chicken.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Sauce:

• 1 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup chicken stock or veggie stock
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons gluten-free rice vinegar (unsweetened)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt mixed with 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar and 1 teaspoon molasses
• 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger or 1 teaspoon dried
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon  vegetable oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch, dissolved (by fork-whisking) in 2 tablespoons hot water

Batter:

• 2/3 cup cornmeal
• 1/2 cup potato starch
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper  (we wanted to use a pinch less)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons orange juice (we probably used a lot more orange juice)

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast or thigh
• 5 cups of peanut oil for frying vegetable oil

Directions

1. Roast Sesame Seeds
2. In a small, dry pan over low heat, toast sesame seeds, tossing every minute, until they begin to turn light brown. Remove from pan, and set aside.

Orange Sauce

1. In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the sauce ingredients except for the peanut oil, garlic, and cornstarch/water slurry.
2. In a small pot, heat the peanut oil on medium and saute minced garlic until fragrant, about one minute.
3. Add the combined sauce ingredients.
4. Simmer until liquid is reduced by about 2/3–about 15 minutes.
5. Whisk in cornstarch slurry.
6. Let the sauce simmer until it thickens a bit.
7. Taste and adjust seasonings.
8. Keep sauce warm on lowest stove setting.

Chicken and Oil

1. While the sauce is simmering, chop the chicken into 1-2” cubes.
2. Heat up the frying oil in a pot over medium-high. (You want to use a small enough pot that you have several inches of depth to your oil and a large enough pot that the oil is several inches from overflowing.

Batter

1. In a mixing bowl, combine the dry batter ingredients, and whisk together.
2. Stir in the orange juice.
3. Drop the chicken pieces into the batter, and stir them in.

Cooking Chicken

1. Using your fingers or metal tongs, pull out individual pieces of battered chicken and place them in the oil.
2. (Do not drop the pieces from high up, or you risk splashing yourself with burning oil.)
3. Do not crowd the pieces of chicken; cook it in several batches.
4. Use a metal spatula to scrape off any chicken that sticks to the bottom of the pot.
5. If the pieces of chicken stick together, do your best to separate them with your spatula or tongs, but don’t obsess; the chicken will still cook unless it’s in enormous clumps.
6. Cook chicken about four minutes, until golden brown and crispy.
7. Remove chicken with tongs or a slotted spoon.
8. Repeat with the rest of the chicken.

Final Presentation

1. Toss the chicken with the orange sesame sauce,
2. sprinkle the sesame seeds on top,
3. serve over long-grain brown rice with steamed vegetables alongside.

Variations That We Thought might be good
Lemmon Chicken