Recipe – Orange Chicken à la Lucito

A few weeks back, for the Chinese New Year, I created a new recipe for the occasion. I researched a bit what would be traditional, and after finding such a great variety of dishes I could not decide on a single thing. I also read that it was traditional to give kids oranges and to eat a lot of them as they are representative of the sun; so I decided to make something with oranges or ‘mandarinas’ in it, as the later are currently in season here. Normita felt like having a chicken dish so this Orange Chicken was born. It could easily be made with turkey or other types of poultry. I opted to make it with oranges as I had some very nice seedless ones, and the ‘mandarinas’ we had were full of seeds. If I remember right we probably made it with turkey breast as we had some frozen ones marinated ‘arrachera’ style. I will talk more about ‘arrachera’ in the coming weeks as the Padrino as requested a recipe and we will provide in time. Enjoy this nice light oriental dish with the chicken served on a nice bed of steamed rice…

Ingredients

1 full chicken breast skinned and deboned then cut in cubes
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp orange juice
1 egg yolk
1 tbs cornstarch
12 green onions cut diagonally into 2" pieces
1 small can of water chestnut slices
1 large seedless orange peeled, broken into segments, and with the segments cut into cubes
1 1/2 cup orange juice
3 tbs honey
2 tbs Hoi Sin sauce
1 tbs cooking sherry
1 1/2 tsp Chinese chili paste or to taste
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbs sunflower oil
1 1/2 tbs cornstarch
1 1/2 tbs water
1 tsp sesame oil

Preparation

1. With your hands mix the chicken cubes with 1 tsp of soy sauce and 1 tsp of orange juice until well incorporated.
2. Add the egg yolk and mix well again.
3. Add 2 tbs of cornstarch and mix until you get a very sticky mess.
4. In a measuring cup put 1 of cup orange juice, 2 tbs honey, 2 tbs Hoi Sin sauce, 1 tbs cooking sherry, 1 1/2 tsp chili paste, and salt and mix well to make the sauce.
5. Put 2 tbs cornstarch and 2 tbs water in a small bowl and mix well together with finger.
6. In a large wok on high heat place 1 tbs of oil and heat 30 seconds.
7. Stir-fry the chicken cubes until they are well cooked. Around 5 minutes depending on the heat of your fire.
8. Reserve the chicken.
9. Add the other 1 tbs of oil and place on high heat to stir fry.
10. Add the green onions and water chestnuts, and stir fry for 1 minute.
11. Add the prepared sauce, the orange cubes, and the reserved chicken, and bring to boil covered.
12. Add the cornstarch in water to the mix and bring to boil to thicken.
13. Add the 1 tsp sesame oil to give a nice shine to the dish and mix well and serve while still hot.

Lucito