Orange Chicken and Fried Rice

Doesn't it look delicious?

I made this for dinner last night; it was my second time making it, and it was definitely better the second time. Maybe it will get better and better each time! It's good the next day, too... I'm so eating leftovers for lunch today. :]

So here's the recipe; this is the recipe I followed the first time. I almost always follow a recipe the first time I make something, and then make adjustments the following times. Play around with it and figure out the changes that you'll like!

FRIED RICE:

1/3 cup oil
1 onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
ginger [I love using fresh ginger]
peas and carrots [frozen ones are okay, but I usually cook raw veggies]
4 eggs, beaten
4 cups of cold, cooked rice [I cook my rice the day before we plan to eat this]
soy sauce
green onions, chopped [I like a lot!]


Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a skillet. Add onions and cook until fragrant. Add ginger, garlic and green onions. Add veggies; cook until defrosted or softened, but still crisp. Transfer contents to bowl.

Return pan to heat; add 2 tablespoons of oil. Add eggs; season with salt and pepper. Stir eggs until almost set. Transfer eggs to same bowl with veggies.

Return pan to heat; add remaining oil. Add rice to pan and break up clumps. Stir fry to coat with oil. Let rice cook undisturbed for 2 minutes until slightly crispy. stiry again. Add veggies and egg mixture, and heat through.


ORANGE CHICKEN:

Chicken: 

• 2lbs chicken, cut into small chunks
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• oil, for frying

Orange sauce: 

• 1 1/3 cups water
• 2 tablespoons orange juice [I usually add more, because I like the orange flavor]
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar [you can find this in the condiments aisle in any grocery store]
• 2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon orange zest, grated
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger [again, freshly grated ginger here is the best!]
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons green onion, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes [I usually add more]
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 cup water

Combine flour, salt and pepper. Dip chicken in beaten egg and dredge in flour. Fry chicken in oil until completely cooked. 

Combine water, lemon juice, orange juice, rice vinegar and soy sauce in sauce pan. Stir in brown sugar, orange zest ginger, garlic and green onions. Boil. 

Combine cornstarch and water, mix. Pour into sauce; heat to thicken. Pour over breaded/fried chicken. 

If you're like me and have a husband, baby, and a house to tend to (among other things)... it CAN be kind of a time consuming recipe [time consuming = anything more than half an hour, lol]... so I usually start the day before [by cooking the rice; it's better when it is a day old] and then the morning of the meal, by scrambling the eggs, cooking the veggies, preparing the sauce, cutting the chicken... then all that is left to do when it's time to eat is to dredge/fry the chicken, heat the sauce, fry the rice and add the [already cooked] eggs and veggies. That saves a lot of time!