Welcome to Clubhouse Eats, where we celebrate the game’s most delectable food and drink. Hope you brought your appetite.
***
Classic Chinese takeout food is one of life’s great guilty pleasures. From spring rolls and lo mein to General Tso’s chicken and beef teriyaki, the dishes that come served in those iconic white cartons are comfort food for millions.
According to Mario Scordato, the private chef at Bunker Hill Farms, a private golf resort outside of Chicago, cooking those dishes at home isn’t as hard as you might think — this he proved by walking us through the steps of making restaurant-quality fried rice.
That staple Chinese side dish is a great thing to whip up at home, but it’s even better when served alongside a classic Chinese food entrée. So we tapped Chef Scordato again to teach us how to make Orange Chicken. Here, we share the chef’s guidance alongside a recipe that any home cook can tackle.
The Meat of the Issue
The key to good Orange Chicken — much like Sesame Chicken and General Tso’s — is the meat that you use. And not all cuts of chicken are created equal.
The health-conscious may be hardwired to think that chicken breast is the best cut of poultry to use, but when it comes to fried chicken, white meat is always going to leave something to be desired. “No matter what, it will never be as good,” Chef Scordato says of using breast meat. The reason for that is simple: Chicken breast is lean, with its juiciness coming from the amount of water in the meat. But because fried chicken needs to be cooked long enough for the meat to be done, most of the moisture ends up evaporating from the meat. That often leads to a dry finished product.
Chicken thighs, on the other hand, have more fat, which is important. “That’s what makes things taste great and juicy and delicious,” Scordato says.
When you cook with chicken thighs, you also don’t need as much oil in the pan, since some of the fat in the meat will render out while it’s cooking, helping it to fry.
Patience Is a Virtue
Pan-frying chicken thighs is a slower process that you might think.
Chef Scordato starts by marinating the meat for a little while, then he coats the pieces in some corn starch. Once that’s done, he heats a neutral oil (the chef prefers avocado oil) to medium-low, then crowds the pan with lots of chicken and lets it slowly crisp up. “You have to show a little restraint,” he advises. “You have to have a little patience and a little trust, because we need a lot of time to cook that chicken through.”
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you need a high level of heat to ensure the chicken is cooked. That causes more problems and, ironically, can lead to undercooked meat. “If you use high heat, you’ll brown the corn starch and the coating very quickly,” he explains, “but you won’t have enough time to cook the chicken through.”
If you’re intent on using chicken breast, first cut the pieces smaller and increase the heat to medium; otherwise, stick to medium-low and just remind yourself that good things come to those who wait.
The Sum of Its Parts
The beauty of Orange Chicken — and really any dish that you’ll find on a Chinese takeout menu — is that there are not hard and fast rules about how it’s made or what it must include. If you don’t have navel oranges at home, but you have a bag of Clementines, for example, you can use those as a good substitute. In fact, Chef Scordato suggests the resulting sauce might be even better that way. “There’s no ancient Chinese standard for what Orange Chicken sauce is,” he acknowledges. “So it’s really whatever you want it to be. There’s no right and wrong.”
The one exception to that is Black Chinese Vinegar, which Scordato says is an imperative ingredient. Fortunately, thanks to Amazon and an ever-broadening array of international ingredients sold at many grocery stores, it’s not a difficult product to obtain. “Black Chinese vinegar is one of those things that’s in a lot of what we consider ‘Chinese food’ that makes it taste like Chinese food,” he says. “That, to me, is one of the really important parts of the sauce.”
Orange Chicken
Yield: 4 servings
Active cooking time: 30 minutes
Start to finish: 1 hour
Ingredients for the chicken:
-4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into one-inch pieces
-1/2 cup + 2 tbsp. neutral oil (avocado oil recommended), divided
-2 tsp. rice vinegar
-1/2 tsp. salt
-1/2 cup cornstarch
Ingredients for the sauce:
-1 tbsp. avocado oil
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-1 tsp. ginger, freshly grated
-1 cup orange juice (fresh squeezed)
-1/2 tsp. orange zest
-1 tbsp. Chinese black vinegar
-1/2 to 1 tsp. sambal
-1/4 cup soy sauce
-2 tbsp. light brown sugar
Ingredients for garnish:
-2 tbsp. sesame seeds, toasted
-3 scallions, thinly sliced on the bias
Preparation:
In a small bowl, combine the chicken with two tablespoons of oil, rice vinegar and salt. Let marinate for at least 30 minutes.
While the chicken marinates, in a small sauté pan, heat the oil over medium heat. When it just starts to shimmer, add the garlic and ginger and stir, being careful not to let the garlic burn.
Once the garlic is golden brown, add the rest of the sauce ingredients and stir to incorporate. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat and continue to simmer on low for 10 to 15 minutes, until sauce has thickened to a glaze.
To cook the chicken, heat 1/2 cup oil in a large skillet (cast iron is preferred). While the oil is heating, add the cornstarch to the marinating chicken and briefly toss until just coated. Add more cornstarch as needed.
Add the chicken pieces to the pan all at once in a single layer, it is okay to crowd the pan with the chicken. Let cook, undisturbed, until the chicken is golden brown and crisp, 7-8 minutes. Turn the chicken pieces over and cook on the other side until golden brown and crisp as well.
