Mama Snow’s Orange Chicken Recipe

Prep time: 15 minutes
Inactive time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4-6

I like playing with my ingredients to see the different flavors and marinade to use when cooking chicken. This experimental version of orange chicken was a hit for my husband that he requested me to document a recipe for it so I can remember how I make it the next time again.

Ingredients:

4.5-5lb chicken mixed thighs/legs/wings
1 sweet navel orange
1/2 Tbsp ginger powder
1/2 Tbsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp NOH char siu red powder
2 Tbsp Kikkoman Aji Mirin
4 Tbsp Golden Mountain Seasoning Sauce
2 Tbsp ABC Sweet Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp oil*
2 cup Chaokoh pure coconut water*
1/4 cup fried or dried shallots*
honey* (1/4 cup or to preference)

Note: *Those ingredients are aded while cooking. Honey is the added sweetener in this recipe, depending on how sweet my orange and coconut water are. Sometimes I’ll add up to 1/4 a cup, sometimes not necessary.

1. Rinse and prep the chicken. I like using combination of thighs, wings, and legs. I separated the wings by the joints, deboned the thighs and cut into two pieces, and cut the chicken legs into three pieces like pictured below.

2. Prep and measure out the ingredients. Cut the orange in half. I reserved about a cup of thin slices with rinds attach and about 6 chunky pieces for my kids to squeeze the choose into the marinade. Set aside the honey, shallots, oil, and thin orange slices for the cooking part. Honey is the added sweetener at the end. Depending on how sweet my orange is, sometimes I don’t add honey.

3. Mix the marinade ingredients into the the chicken. Marinate the chicken for about 15 minutes.

4. Cooking: Heat up oil in the Hexclad 14-inch wok on medium high heat and then add the minced garlic and thinly sliced oranges for about two minutes. Add in the chicken and brown it. After about five minutes, I add the dehydrated shallots. If using fresh sliced shallots, I would add the shallots at the beginning with the garlic. (I timed stamp the pictures to help me get an idea how I cook need to cook this again next time.)

5. Pour in the water. Cover the wok with the lid and cook the chicken on medium low heat for 20 minutes.

6. Transfer about half of the sauce out into an Instant Pot and sauté the sauce for about five minutes. Then add the caramelized sauce back into the wok.