Orange Chicken + Rice

When we unexpectedly received a handful of oranges and clementines in a recent Imperfect Foods order, my husband Trevor immediately requested Chinese take-away — specifically orange chicken. One speedy Google search later and this easy recipe for Chinese Orange Chicken by Modern Honey went on the docket.

As usual, a few substitutions were made but I stayed fairly true to the original recipe (at least for me anyway!)

The most obvious change in my opinion was using this preseasoned flour from The Bamboo Chef rather than the homemade dredge listed in the instructions (to view, click the recipe link above). This decision was partly influenced by the fact that I have had it in my pantry for awhile and partly to conserve my gluten free flour supply.

Arguably the most prominent ingredient in orange chicken is orange juice so when I squeezed and juiced my fresh citrus thoroughly and still couldn’t quite reach one cup… the second major improvisation came along. I opted to use Santa Cruz mango lemonade to top off the measurement (about one quarter cup.)

Using one part mango lemonade influenced the next change — cutting the sugar in half. My thought process is that orange chicken is always too sweet for our personal taste, and since the lemonade has added sugar already, halving the sugar would be logical. I opted to use coconut palm sugar; one of the reasons I like coconut sugar is because it can be used as a 1 to 1 replacement and doesn’t have a strange aftertaste like stevia or monkfruit. (I also have a decent amount on hand because my local Walmart was completely sold out of cane sugar and I was legitimately out at home!)

I also doubled the minced garlic, doubled the ground ginger in the orange sauce and instead of a half teaspoon of red chili flakes, I chose one teaspoon of chili garlic sauce. In place of soy sauce or tamari, I used coconut aminos (available in the Asian section of most grocery stores or at Trader Joe’s) and Bragg’s soy aminos (basically soy sauce but with virtually no sodium and the only ingredients are soy and water.)

Trevor prepped the rice in the hand-me-down rice cooker (at least twenty years old by now!) we use all the time. We eat rice so often that it’s more economical to purchase the white rice in 20 lb. bags and store it in huge Tupperware Thatsa Bowls.

He said it was the best orange chicken he’s ever had and I would have to agree.

Let me know if you’re a take-out fan in the comments!

Love and taste,

K