Szechuan Orange Chicken

Halcyon Eve's Note:

From a magazine of quick meal recipes. The recipe calls for blood orange juice, but I've used fresh regular orange juice (Odwalla brand) and it works just fine. This recipe has a fairly mild, sweet, orangey flavor.

• Total Time: 25 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

Blood Orange Sauce

• 1 ½ cups orange juice (blood orange or regular)
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh gingerroot
• 1 ½ teaspoons minced garlic
• ½ teaspoon hot chili flakes

Chicken

• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
• ½ teaspoon vegetable oil
• 4 cups hot cooked rice
• ¼ cup thinly sliced green onion (including tops)
• soy sauce

Directions:

1. To make Blood Orange Sauce, mix all sauce ingredients in a 10-12" nonstick skillet over high heat.
2. Bring to boil and boil until reduced to 1 cup, about 10 minutes.
3. Stir often to prevent burning.
4. May be made up to 2 days in advance; use either hot or cold.
5. Meanwhile, rinse chicken and pat dry. Cut into 1/2 inch chunks.
6. In a 12" nonstick skillet or 5-6 qt nonstick pan, heat oil over high heat.
7. Add chicken and stir-fry until lightly browned and cooked through (cut to test for pinkness), about 4-5 minutes.
8. Add Blood Orange Sauce and stir until it comes to a boil, about 1-2 minutes.
9. Spoon chicken and sauce over rice in bowls. Sprinkle with green onion and season to taste with soy sauce.

Reviews

[**Tinkerbell**]

Blood oranges aren't available here yet, so I used naval oranges instead. But I favor the bloods so I'll be sure to try it again in a couple months. Other than that, made exactly as directed. My family agreed that it was a bit mild for our tastes. So in the future I would up the heat with more chili flakes or a little chili oil with the chicken. Thanks for sharing, Eve! Made for Unrated Asian Recipe tag in the Asian forum.