WWEW: Panda Express Orange Chicken - Copycat Recipe

Happy hump day! For our "What We Eat Wednesday" I will be sharing with you a copycat recipe for Panda Express: Orange Chicken. A definite favorite in our household. Typically, when I go to Panda Express I get the Sweet Fire Chicken with noodles. However, I know not everyone is a fan of the spicy stuff, so I opted for the orange chicken.

Now, this ended up being a last minute pick by the hubby and I, but we REALLY wanted it. Of course, we didn't have all the ingredients that we needed - and we're at least 20 minutes from the nearest grocery store. So we did the next best thing, went to the mother-in-law one stop shop! She, of course, had everything we needed :) 

Here is what you'll need: Chicken

• 1 lb Chicken Breast (cut into various 1 inch pieces)
• 1-2 cups Self-Rising Flour
• 2 eggs
• Oil for frying

Here is what you'll need: Sauce

• 3-4 oz Orange Juice ( I just used frozen can of OJ)
• 2 tbsp Soy Sauce
• 3 tbsp Sugar
• 1/4 cup Rice Wine Vinegar
• 1/2 tsp. Siracha Sauce (I used a bit more - fan of the spicy!)
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 2 tsp. corn starch

Instructions:

CHICKEN: 1. Heat the oil in your frying pan to about 375 degrees (make sure you have enough oil to cover the chicken).

2. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees (It takes a while to fry the chicken so once you finish a batch you can put it in the oven to keep warm)

3. Wisk your eggs in a small bowl till fully mixed

4. Fill a bowl with the self-rising flour

5. Once you've cut your chicken into pieces - one or two at at time - dip into the egg bowl, then into the flour. Repeat twice to fully coat.

6. Once you have about 5-10 pieces put them in your frying vessel and let fry til golden brown (about 10 minutes-ish)

SAUCE: 1. Combine all sauce ingredients into a small pot (making sure the cornstarch is dissolved before cooking). 

2. Cook on medium heat until the sauce thickens.

LAST STEP - Place fried chicken in a large bowl - and pour the sauce on top, mix until the chicken is fully coated. Serve immediately - I also added a sprinkle of red peppers! ENJOY :) Serve with rice or noodles!

 (recipe adapted from - Rachel Rockwell)

If you don't have time to fry your chicken you could also just cook a bag of frozen popcorn chicken and make the sauce - either way you'll love this recipe! Let me know what you think? Have you ever tried to copycat a restaurant recipe? I'd love for you to share it with us here at Orchard Girls :)

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