NOW WE'RE COOKING: Ginger orange chicken

January 18, 2012

Let's face it. We all love Chinese take-out (including myself), but it can be extra fatty and you don't actually know all of the ingredients that go into the meal. Here's one of everyone's favorites: Ginger orange chicken — and now you can make it at home.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken thighs (if you prefer to use white meat, use 1 lb. of boneless skinless chicken breasts)
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons of canola oil, and more to add as needed
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup orange marmalade
2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon ground ginger
Sliced green onions for garnish

1) Trim the fat off of the chicken. Sprinkle the meat with salt and pepper.

2) Put flour into a shallow bowl and toss chicken in the bowl. Shake off extra flour.

Coat chicken with flour. by Meghan Kotowski

3) Heat a large skillet to medium high, add canola oil and cook chicken in batches. If you need to add a little more oil between batches, DO IT! There's nothing worse than burnt chicken.

Cook chicken in batches on medium high in a large skillet. by Meghan Kotowski

Side story: OK, this oil gets hot. And when I say hot, I mean hot. Please be careful, because when I was making this meal, I burned my finger (pretty bad) and spilled some oil down my shirt. Take a lesson from me: Don't be dumb around hot oil.

4) Remove the chicken and keep warm — I like to warm my oven and place the chicken in there until I need it again.

5) Once finished cooking the chicken, toss in the orange juice, orange marmalade, soy sauce, honey and ginger in the same skillet. Bring to a boil and let the sauce thicken up.