Orange Chicken

Method

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1. Toss the chicken with the egg white, soy sauce and Shaoxing wine and leave 20 minutes.

   Mark done

2. Mix the cornflour, flour and baking powder. Lift the chicken out piece by piece and press it into the dry mix until thickly and unevenly coated. Those rough edges are what catch the sauce.

   Mark done

3. Heat the oil to 170°C / 340°F and fry in three batches for 4 minutes each until pale gold. Drain on a rack.

   Mark done Start 4 min timer

4. Raise the oil to 195°C / 385°F and fry each batch again for 90 seconds until deep gold and crackling. Drain.

   Mark done Start 90 sec timer

5. For the sauce, simmer the orange juice, zest strips, sugar, vinegar, soy, garlic, ginger and chilli in a wok for 5 minutes.

   Mark done Start 5 min timer

6. Fish out the zest strips. Stir the cornflour slurry and pour it in, whisking, then simmer 60 seconds until the sauce is glossy and coats a spoon.

   Mark done

7. Add the chicken and toss hard for 30 seconds — no longer, or the crust softens. Scatter with spring onion and sesame seeds and serve immediately.

   Mark done Start 30 sec timer

Chef’s Tips

• Zest in strips rather than gratings, so you can remove them. Grated zest turns the sauce bitter as it reduces.
• Toss and serve. Orange chicken left sitting in its sauce is a different, sadder dish within five minutes.
• Thighs stay juicy through a double fry where breast dries out. Use thighs.

Common Substitutions & Variations

• Out of spring onions? A small regular onion, finely sliced, or a few chives stirred in at the end both cover the job.
• A quarter-teaspoon of ground ginger per tablespoon of fresh is the standard ratio if you are working from the spice rack rather than a fresh root.
• An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the usual stand-in when you are out of fresh garlic — it will not caramelise the same way, but it carries the flavour.

Pairing Suggestions

• Steamed jasmine rice
• Stir-fried greens with garlic
• Jasmine tea or a cold lager

Storage & Reheating

Refrigerate up to 3 days, keeping sauce and chicken separate if you can. Re-crisp the chicken at 200°C / 390°F for 8 minutes before saucing.

Common questions

Nutritional Highlights

Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list. Treat these as an estimate — brands and cuts vary.