Who doesn’t love orange chicken, that tangy yet sweet Chinese American staple? It is no surprise that Trader Joe’s #1 selling item is Orange Chicken nearly year round. But we eat Paleo/Whole 30 in our house so I am always modifying a recipe- like a ninja warrior challenge, give me any recipe and I will tweak all the “unapproved” ingredients out.
This one has been a fav in our house and dinner parties, hope you enjoy it!
ingredients
1lb of boneless skinless chicken, breast or thighs. Whichever you prefer, I have made this with both!
5 Tbsp of Tapioca flour: 4 for coating the chicken and 1 one for the sauce
1 tsp of salt, I use Diamond Crystal Kosher salt
1 tsp of ground black pepper
2 cups of broccoli flowerettes
1 whole red bell pepper sliced
Juice of two fresh oranges
1 tsp of finely grated orange zest
3 garlic cloves finely chopped
1 tsp of fresh grated ginger
1 tsp of sesame oil
2 Tbsp of Sambal chili sauce, more or less depending on how spice you like
1/2 cup cooking like Avocado oil or another high temp oil for frying
Directions
- Heat the cooking oil in a heavy bottom frying pan or wok
- Cut the chicken in to bit size pieces and pat dry with a paper towel
- In a deep bowl mix 4 tablespoons of tapioca flour with the salt and pepper
- Toss the chicken in the flour mix to evenly coat
- In small batches fry the chicken until browned and set aside on a paper towel
- Discard any remaining oil from the chicken and add one tablespoon of cooking oil and the sesame oil to the pan and heat medium-high
- Add the chopped garlic, sambal and ginger cook for 1 min
- Add the vegetables
- Add the chicken to the vegetables and cook for another 5 mins stirring a few times
- In a small bowl mix together the orange juice and tapioca flour, whisk together until you do not have any clumps
- Slowly add the sauce mixture to the chicken and veggies while stirring constantly
- stir in the orange zest
