Orange Chicken with Fried Crispy Basil

We love anything Asian around here, I'm half Filipina so I grew up with some pretty tasty meals at the dinner table (thanks mom). One dish we love to get whenever we order Chinese food to go (which is seldom - I'd rather make it at home) is Orange Chicken. Any dish with citrus in it is one of our favorites, that is how we roll in our home.

Crispy chicken, delicious sauce, steamed white rice and crispy basil topping? You can't go wrong. We love making this dish - hope you have a chance to try it.



Look at that fried basil! It's like eating potato chips, you can't have just one! (WARNING: If you have never fried basil, you MUST, I repeat you MUST have an oil splatter shield as it does make the oil pop. I use tongs to place basil in oil and then put a shield over the pan until basil is done cooking). Be forewarned, Jaime will tell you it hurts if you don't use basil protection!

What you need:

1 1/2 cups of water

2 T orange juice

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/3 cup of rice vinegar

2 1/2 T soy sauce

1 T of orange zest

1 cup of packed light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root

1/2 teaspoon of minced garlic

2 T chopped green onion

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

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3 T of cornstarch

2 T of water

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4 boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized cubes

1 to 2 cups of flour

1 to 2 eggs

1 1/2 cup of oil

Directions:

Pour 1 1/2 cups of water, orange juice, lemon juice, rice vinegar and soy sauce into a saucepan and set over medium to high heat. Stir in the orange zest, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, green onion and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let simmer on low heat for 30 minutes prior to pouring over cooked chicken. **BEFORE** you pour this sauce over your cooked chicken, in a small bowl add 3T of corn startch and 2T of water, mix well and pour into sauce and stir until sauce thickens.

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Take your chicken cubes, add egg, stir until all pieces are coated well with egg. Place chicken in flour and coat well. Place in a hot fryer or pan with oil and cook until golden brown.

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Once your chicken is done cooking, pour orange sauce over chicken and garnish with sliced green onions and crispy fried basil. Serve with white rice.