orange chicken

i was slobbering over at tastespotting today. i typed in asian and some really beautiful things came up. for dinner tonight i settled on the orange chicken. it was absolutely divine. so much better than a restaurant, even panda express. the best part was that it was super fast. the original recipe called for battering your own chicken. i opted out of this to stick with a quick and easy night. i used the chicken fingers you can get at costco. they started carrying these at my costco about a year ago. they are made by simmons. the best part is that they are the kind they use in restaurants, not the greasy gal bladder attack balls. at only 7 grams of fat a serving, they are great to have on hand for wraps, pasta and now, orange chicken. i am also a label checker, a very serious label checker. so that will tell you that the ingredient list for these tenders is not a mile long, it is really simple with no horrible preservatives you can't pronounce. in fact, i knew everything on the list.

orange chicken (with my own revisions)

1 1/2 c. water
1 TB orange juice concentrate
1 TB fresh squeezed orange juice (you can omit both of these for 2 TB reg. orange juice)
1/4 c. lemon juice
1/3 c. rice vinegar
2 1/2 TB. soy sauce
1 TB orange zest
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 t. fresh ginger
1/2 t. fresh garlic
2 TB green onion
3 TB corn starch
2 TB water

Combine the water, orange and lemon juice, rice vinegar and soy sauce over medium heat. Once combined add zest, brown sugar, ginger, garlic and green onion. ( you can add some hot pepper flakes at this point if you want some heat. 1 tsp.)

Bring all of these ingredients to a boil.

In a separate bowl combine the cornstarch and water and pour in to the sauce over the stove.
Boil constantly whisking until it turns thick or coats the back of a spoon.

Add the cooked chicken strips cut into 1 inch chunks to the sauce. Serve this hot, the sauce gets super sticky the second it cools just a little. Serve over rice.

I know these aren't everyday ingredients, but it is worth putting on your menu and getting the ingredients, so YUMMY! and yes, better than PANDA!