Sticky Honey Orange Chicken

December 30, 2024
2 Comments

One of the most popular Asian take-out dishes in the US is orange chicken. It is full of those satisfying take-out vibes that we all crave from time to time (or every Friday night), but if you want to avoid the chemicals, dyes and preservatives that often accompany fast food then you should give my sticky honey orange chicken a try…

Making your favorite take-out dishes at home is actually quite easy and allows you to control the flavors and spice levels and keep the additives out. Today, we are making sticky honey orange chicken, but you can also make general tso’s, bibimbap or yakisoba right in your own kitchen any time the mood strikes.

Let’s get started…

The first thing we need is some beautifully crispy chicken to toss in the sticky honey orange sauce.

Begin by cutting your boneless skinless chicken into bite sized pieces. Place the chicken into a large bowl with 2 whisked eggs and give everything a good mix until all of the chicken is coated in egg.

To fry the chicken, add a thin layer of a neutral oil into a large skillet over medium heat. While the oil is warming up, add about a cup of cornstarch into a shallow bowl and bring it and the egg coated chicken over close to your stovetop.

Begin dipping pieces of the egg coated chicken into the cornstarch, let the excess cornstarch fall back into the bowl and carefully set the coated chicken into the hot oil. I like to do this with a dry fork, so I can set the chicken into the oil gently instead of dropping it which can cause hot oil to splash out of the skillet.

Repeat the process until you have enough coated chicken to form a single layer in the skillet with just a little bit of space between each piece. If you really pile the chicken into the oil, it will cool the oil down too much and prevent the breading from getting super crisp, so fry the chicken in a couple of batches.

Once the chicken is cooked through and crisp on all sides, transfer the pieces onto a paper towel lined plate and repeat until all of the chicken has been fried.

While the chicken is frying, whisk 1/3 cup of honey, 1/3 cup of soy sauce, 1/2 cup of orange juice and 3 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar with 3 cloves of finely minced garlic, 1 tablespoon of pasted or minced ginger and a pinch of red pepper flakes in a small bowl. This is our honey orange sauce and once the chicken is all fried, we are going to add it right into the same skillet to make things easy.

Once all of the chicken is fried and transferred onto a paper towel lined plate, discard the frying oil from the skillet. If you had a lot of burned cornstarch on the bottom of the skillet, very carefully rinse the skillet out to remove those pieces.

Place the skillet back over medium heat and add all of your honey orange sauce.

This sauce will feel too thin at first, but have faith, it will transform into a beautifully sticky sauce very soon.

As soon as the sauce begins to simmer, add the chicken back into the skillet and mix until each piece has been generously coated.

Like I said earlier, do not be nervous if the sauce feels too liquidy at first, reduce the heat to medium low and let the chicken and sauce cook stirring occasionally until the sauce thickens, begins to look shiny and starts sticking to the chickens coating.

At this point, transfer the chicken off of the heat and if you want to make things look as delicious as they will taste, garnish with white sesame seeds and some thinly sliced green onions.

All there is left to do is to serve with some fluffy rice and steamed broccoli and enjoy…

Tips for the Best Sticky Honey Orange Chicken…

- - The question I receive most often is about doubling or tripling this recipe. This is quite easy to do! Multiplying the sauce is simple and a good ratio to follow for the chicken is to use is 1 large egg and 1/2 cup of cornstarch per pound for coating the chicken.
  - If you are wondering whether you can use store bought orange juice, the answer is yes, but I do believe that fresh squeezed will give you the best result.
  - When frying the chicken, be sure to allow the excess cornstarch to fall back into the bowl to avoid a smokey frying experience. If a lot of excess cornstarch falls to the bottom of your frying skillet, it will continue to fry as you remove the cooked chicken and add the next batches. It will eventually begin to burn on the bottom of the skillet and this can create a bunch of smoke and who needs to get the smoke detectors involved?
  - This sticky honey orange chicken reheats very well, so if you have leftovers or want to use this recipe for meal prepping, simple reheat in the microwave or in a 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes.

When I think about take-out food, this is exactly what comes to mind. Something a little sweet with just a hint of heat and a wonderfully sticky texture that coats both the chicken and the rice it is served over. It satisfies those comfort food cravings right in your own kitchen without a whole lot of fuss.

So the next time you start craving asian take-out, make yourself a big batch of my sticky honey orange chicken. You’ll be so glad that you did!

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