Orange Chicken (Chen Pi Ji)
- camissonia
- Oct 26
- 1 min read
When I think of orange chicken, it's usually of the Chinese fast food variety with way too much flour/cornstarch coating and a cloyingly sweet sauce. Therefore, it's not exactly a dish I crave for. However, I recently came across a recipe in Bee Yin Low's Easy Chinese Recipes that looked lightly crisp and was not overly dressed with sauce. In fact, she uses fresh orange juice and omits the dried orange peel, which is hard to come by unless you have an Asian market in your hood. Anyways, I took a crack at it and modified her recipe by adding some fresh lemon juice in addition to the orange juice, a little fresh minced ginger, hoisin sauce and freshly grated orange zest to give it an extra boost of orange flavor. I doubled the sauce recipe and also dredged the diced chicken first in beaten eggs and then dredged in cornstarch before frying. Really good with steamed white rice.
1
Searing the Beef
Sear beef fillets on high heat for 2 minutes per side to form a golden crust. Let it cool before proceeding to keep the beef tender.
2
Mushroom Duxelles
Cook the mushrooms until all moisture evaporates to prevent soggy pastry. Aim for a thick, paste-like consistency.
3
Puff Pastry Handling
Keep the puff pastry cold to avoid softness. Chill if it becomes too soft, and score the top lightly without cutting through.
Notes
1
Combine all sauce ingredients together in a medium bowl; set aside.
2
Set up your dredging station: place 2 cups of cornstarch on a plate or shallow casserole dish; beat 2 eggs together in another shallow casserole dish.
3
Place the diced chicken in a single layer on a plate. Season lightly with kosher salt.
4
Heat 2 cups of vegetable oil in a sauté pan or wok until hot but not raging hot (around 350F) - you can always sprinkle a little flour into the oil and if it sizzles, then it's ready to go.
5
Dredge the diced chicken first in egg wash and then in the cornstarch until lightly but thoroughly coated. Place the coated chicken into the hot oil and cook in 2-3 batches (don't overcrowd the pan) until golden brown and remove to a paper towel-lined platter as soon as they're done.
6
After all the chicken has been fried, pour out most of the oil from the pan, leaving about 1 tbsp. Heat over medium-high heat and sauté the minced garlic and ginger for several seconds until fragrant. Next, add the sauce and bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
7
Stir the cornstarch slurry into the sauce and stir constantly until the sauce has thickened, about 1 minute. Stir in the scallions and fresh red chiles and turn off the heat.
8
There are two ways to serve this dish: place the fried chicken pieces onto a serving plate and pour the sauce over it (there's a lot of sauce in this recipe, so you can control the amount of sauce you want on the chicken by serving it this way) OR, you can just toss the chicken in with the sauce in the pan.
9
Garnish the final plate with extra scallions and sliced chiles, if desired. Serve asap, while the coating on the chicken is still crisp.
Instructions
3 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs trimmed & cut into 1" dice
Kosher salt
Cornstarch Slurry
6 tbsp soy sauce
4 tbsp Hoisin sauce
2 tbsp rice wine
2 cups fresh orange juice
6 tbsp fresh lemon juice (1 large lemon)
1 tbsp freshly grated orange zest
8 tbsp water
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp rice vinegar
6 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp white pepper
Sauce
2 cups cornstarch
2 eggs
2 cups vegetable oil
Cornstarch Slurry
5 cloves garlic minced
1 tsp minced fresh ginger
1 jalapeno or Fresno chili seeded and thinly sliced
3 scallions chopped
Cornstarch Slurry
2 tbsp cornstarch
4 tbsp water
Cornstarch Slurry
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Orange Chicken (Chen Pi Ji)
Prep Time
20 min
Cooking Time
15 min
Rest Time
0 min
Total Time
35 min
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