Orange Chicken with Basmati Rice

Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of Nikoli's Kitchen! This week on the show, I'm talking about the projects I failed to complete in November and how hard I've been on myself for it- and how I need to stop being so hard on myself and celebrate the success, even if I only finished 80%. On the other side of that, I'm breaking down a recipe for Orange Chicken based on a recipe from Delicious Day! I whipped up a killer basmati rice with homemade orange butter as a side and it was wonderful. Please check out the recipe breakdown below and let me know what you think! Thank you so much for listening, and thank you so much for coming on this journey with me.

 

Featured Recipes for this Episode

~| Orange Chicken recipe is largely based on the recipe from Delicious Day at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJQYjO_2dhg. |~

Marinade: 

4 large chicken breasts, cubed (about 2 lbs)
2 T crushed garlic (use a garlic press if you have it)
Juice & zest of 2 oranges
2 t salt
1 t black pepper
1 t turmeric

Orange Sauce:

1 t ground ginger or crushed fresh ginger
1 t chipotle chili powder
1/2 c dark brown sugar
Juice & zest of 2 oranges
1/2 c rice vinegar
1/4 c low sodium soy sauce

Slurry:

2 T corn starch
1/4 c cold water 

Batter:

1/3 c AP flour
2/3 c rice flour
1/3 c corn starch
1/4 c water, more to desired consistency
1 gallon vegetable or preferred frying oil
Deep frying thermometer (if available)

For your rice:

2 c basmati rice
3-1/2 c water
2 T orange butter
1 t salt

Orange Butter:

1 stick of butter, softened
Juice & zest of 1 orange
1 t white sugar
1/2 t salt

To make your butter, combine the ingredients together in a bowl and mix together until well-blended and refrigerate until you're ready to use it.

For the rice, rinse your rice until the water runs clear. 
Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan and turn on high heat. 
Once this starts to boil, cover and reduce the heat to low. 
Cook the rice for 13-15 minutes or until the liquid is gone (mine took 14).
Remove from the heat and let it rest for 5 minutes.
Fluff with a fork and serve.

Prepare your marinade for the chicken a few hours ahead of time by combining all ingredients together in a large bowl. 
I noted above to use a garlic press if you have it- I chopped garlic for this but didn't chop it nearly small enough, which resulted in some large chunks of garlic getting stuck to the chicken during frying. In the future I will crush it.
Leave the bowl in the fridge, covered, for about 4-6 hours until ready to cook (the Delicious Day recipe only calls for 30 minutes, but this will allow the flavors to really penetrate the chicken). 

When you're ready to start cooking, place a large Dutch oven or stock pot on the stove and add your oil. 
Add your deep fry thermometer on the side of the pot if you have one. 
Combine all of the ingredients for your sauce in a large bowl and whisk until combined; set this aside until later.
Prepare your cornstarch slurry by combining your cornstarch and cold water and mixing this together until combined. Set aside until later.
Turn on mid-high and begin heating the oil. 
Combine your flours and cornstarch together in a bowl and whisk until combined.
Add your water in, stirring constantly until this has a nice, thick, batter-like consistency.
Add your chicken to the bowl, shaking off any extra marinade. 
Stir until well-combined and the chicken is well-coated (the batter will be so thick it will not have an issue). 
Once your oil hits 350° or once a drop of batter dropped in pops back to the surface and floats after 1-2 seconds, it is ready. 
Add your chicken in batches (I did two), cooking it for about 2-3 minutes, being sure to break up any chicken that is clumped together (add it a piece at a time to save yourself the trouble of unsticking them later). 
Remove the chicken and rest. Heat your oil to 375°.
Add all of the chicken to your oil and cook for another 2-3 minutes or until it is a very crispy golden brown.
Remove the oil from the heat and place your chicken on a paper towel-lined platter or a drying rack to rest.

Add the sauce to a large skillet and heat over medium heat, stirring regularly.
Once this starts to simmer around the edges, stir it constantly to make sure it doesn't burn.
Begin adding your cornstarch slurry a bit at a time, stirring to incorporate it. The sauce will thicken pretty quickly- if it gets too thick, add more water.
Once you've added the last of your slurry, cook for an additional minute and turn off the heat, stirring regularly.
Add your chicken to the pan and stir and toss until every piece is well-coated.
Serve over your basmati rice.

Yield: Approximately eight 4-ounce servings of chicken and about 4 cups of rice.
Calories: 356 calories per serving of chicken.
200 calories per 1/2 cup serving of rice.

 

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Guest Appearances

I was honored to sit down with Ashlee of the Rabbit Ears TV Podcast again to talk about all things Big Little Lies! Check it out at https://www.netflixnswill.com/rabbitears/2021/8/31/big-little-lies.

I had the amazing opportunity to sit down with Em of Verbal Diorama to talk about Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy and we had a blast. Please tune in at https://www.verbaldiorama.com/episode/anchorman-the-legend-of-ron-burgundy!

 

Credits

Intro "Midnight in Carmel" by Wendy Marcini. Licensed from Epidemic Sound. Check out her amazing music at https://open.spotify.com/artist/4CaTfk4pRkpA8A9gXamYg2.

Segment Break "Break Fast" by Jules Gaia. Licensed from Epidemic Sound. Check out more of his music at https://open.spotify.com/artist/7GXiq6QQjWFEgHjd3TRaCt.

Outro "The Climb" from Music for Makers. Sign up and get a royalty-free song delivered to your inbox every Monday at www.musicformakers.com!

Other music in this episode licensed from Epidemic Sound. Learn more and sign up for a free trial with access to thousands of songs at https://www.epidemicsound.com/.

Track Listing: 

"Glitz at the Ritz" - Jules Gaia
"Lama House" - Oceans and Infinity
"Aurelian" and "New Zealand Story" - S.A. Karl
"Friend or Foe" - Johannes Bornlöf