Sticky Apricot Chicken
Lemme just make this clear : I love Chinese food. I actually love pretty much all Asian food ; Sushi, dim-sum, hibachi, lo-mein, wontons, pad thai, hot pots, SCRUMPTIOUS CHICKEN COVERED IN SAUCES….oh yea. Which I personally think is the hardest to replicate….until now.
quick backstory…
Chris’ favorite Chinese take-out dish is Bourbon Chicken – I had never tried it before I met him (I’m an Orange or Sesame Chicken kinda gal) and this great Chinese place that was closeby our house had a GREAT take on Bourbon Chicken….& then it closed due to the pandemic. Womp Womp.
So I found an awesome Bourbon Chicken Recipe – it has a million ingredients, it takes a million minutes & the sauce never gets *quite* thick enough…..don’t get me wrong, its delicious, but for something that is SO time consuming, I can’t get behind the reasoning to keep making it when I can’t get that damn sauce where we want it to be. So I’ve made it probably 5 times & I told him the last time that I was gonna come up with SOMETHING ELSE to satisfy both of our cravings, but also a sauce that was gonna be thicc AF.
better than orange…
I love orange chicken as well. But I’ve noticed that not all orange chickens are created equal. If you have ever had the pleasure of dining at a Peter Chang, you’ll know exactly what I’m about to reference. *droooool*
Peter Chang serves 2 kinds of “orange chicken” they have one that is called “Golden Mountain Chicken” which is crispy, long, strips of chicken that are fried CRUNCHY and they STAY crunchy, and then they are tossed in this orangy-marmalade-y sauce that is to die for. The other dish Peter Chang offers is “Orange Chicken” – riveting, I know. This orange chicken has stewed & caramelized pieces of real orange peel in the sauce. It is thick, sticky perfection & I have to keep myself from licking the plate everytime.
I decided I could come up with something in between all 3 of our favorite dishes. & I tell you what – I fucking did it. & I did it good.
My Sticky Apricot Chicken has 2 parts to it – I’m sure the 1st part could totally be left out if you’re short on time or just don’t want to have any fun & be all chef-y like I’m about to instruct you to be. You’ll be missing out on a hell of a good time, but that’s on you.
Spicy Orange Soak Sauce
I came up with this because I wanted a syrup-y effect without adding a bunch of junk to this meal. Americanized Chinese food already isn’t the healthiest, so I stuck to the basics & did what I knew to be easy and yield a good-ass result.
INGREDIENTS FOR SOAK SAUCE
· 1 orange peeled, about 10 strips
· 1 cup water
· 1 cup OJ
· ¼ cup white sugar
· ¼ TSP red pepper flakes
· 1 TBS white sugar (to rub on orange peels)
Soak Sauce Instructions
Combine all liquids, sugar, & red pepper flakes into a small pot & set on low heat.
Wash & dry the orange.
Carefully peel the orange into thin strips & set aside on a wooden cutting board – because you’re about to play with fucking fire, no plastic cutting boards please.
Sprinkle the 1 TBS of white sugar over top the white pith side of the orange peels (the inside)
Rub gently to ensure the sugar adheres to the orange peel oils.
Using a small torch, quickly torch each of the orange peels. You will hear the sizzle of the sugar & smell a pleasant burnt-orange aroma in the air.
Once cooled, flip the orange peels over & repeat the process.
Your liquids should be bubbling along quietly & nicely by now – stir well & drop in your charred orange peels.
Set a timer for 20 minutes or so, stirring occasionally, & watch the mixture thicken up – it will smell glorious – I could describe it as “spicy Christmas” since I know oranges are a Christmas-y scent but the red pepper flakes make it something else all together.
Turn off the heat & allow your Spicy Orange Sauce to chill out – it will be fine.
now its time for the other stuff.
This 2-step process to making this extra sauce for this dish is SO necessary, I promise you. Plus it will smell SO good while you’re doing the other half of your dish that you’ll forget about all the steps you just did to make this sauce anyway so….enjoy & buckle up for the other half of this orange-rageous journey! (see what I did there?)
Ingredients
· 1 LB chicken breast, cubed
· Cornstarch, 2 TBS
· Rice Wine Vinegar, 1 TBS
· Juice from ½ orange, 1 TBS
· Sesame Oil, 4 TBS – divided
· Oyster Sauce, ½ cup
· Lite Soy Sauce, ½ cup
· Brown Sugar, ¼ cup packed
· Apricot Marmalade, ½ cup
· Orange Juice, ¼ cup
· Garlic & Ginger Paste, 1 TBS each
· Green Onions, 5 stalks – whites & greens divided, diced
· 1 LB Fresh Green Beans, cleaned & snapped
Instructions, 1
In a large bowl, stir well together the cornstarch, rice wine vinegar, orange juice & 2 TBS of sesame oil. Add in the cubed chicken, stir well to combine, cover with plastic wrap & set aside.
Heat a large saucepan over medium heat & drizzle in the other 2 TBS of sesame oil.
Drop in your coated chicken cubes and allow to sear and develop a nice crust & color on them – turn them over a few times to ensure everyone gets cooked — cook your chicken for about 6 minutes total.
Remove the chicken cubes, place in a bowl & cover with tin foil – set aside.
Turn the heat down to low & add in the ginger paste, garlic paste, orange juice, soy sauce & whites of the green onions.
Simmer & cook these ingredients for about 3 minutes – the whites from the green onions should soften, the liquid from the OJ & soy sauce should loosen any chicken bits leftover from the bottom of the pan and the garlic & ginger paste should have melded nicely.
NOW IT IS TIME TO ADD IN YOUR MUCH-ANTICIPATED SPICY-ORANGE CREATION FROM BEFORE!!!!
Instructions, 2
Using a small strainer, strain out the liquid from the small pot directly into your saucepan that has the soy sauce simmering in it. Stir well.
Now whisk in the Oyster Sauce, Brown Sugar & Apricot Marmalade – this should all smell SO spicy, SO delicious & SO citrus-y. I’ll bet you can’t WAIT to get that chicken back in there! ((well good because now is the time to do so))
Drop back in the *cooked* chicken chunks that you seared earlier – they are *probably* not cooked all the way thru, which is fine BECAUSE the hot sauce will finish cooking them thru AND the residual cornstarch on the chicken chunks will thicken your sauce to perfection as they bubble away together.
So, you probably have those leftover orange rinds from the sauce concoction you made earlier – DO NOT THROW THEM AWAY, SHIT.
Drop them in whole into the sauce mixture for that extra zing of flavor, or cut them up into smaller pieces and add them back into the sauce mixture – either way, it will be a delightful addition & give that extra orange bite that we all crave to this whole dish.
Allow your chicken & sauce to marry together and thicken up for about 5 minutes.
Instructions, fin.
Next, throw in the green beans & give them a stir too – turn the heat back up to medium, they should soften up a bit in about 5 minutes or so.
((I enjoy my green beans with a lil *snap* to them so if you prefer your beans *limp* then go ahead & steam them in the microwave for 2 minutes before adding them into your sauce. Its gross, but it’s your life & your choice))
The finish line is near! I’ll bet your mouth is waaaaaatering. & if its not, then throw the whole pan away because you don’t deserve this delicacy.
Once your sauce has thickened up to your liking (it should be sticky AS HELL) and the chicken is positively drenched in the sauce, your green beans are perfectly cooked, and the aroma should be overpowering you – good, that’s good.
Serve this up with some brown rice & an extra smattering of green onions – I promise this dish will make you FAHGGETABBOUTITTTT with take-out Chinese.
Chinese Connoisseur
I like to think of myself as one who appreciates the finer things in life – I’m not exactly sure how that can be linked to Chinese food, but hear me out. Chinese food is a people-pleaser. Literally everyone can find SOME sort of Chinese dish that they love. Noodles are recognizable. Chicken is recognizable. Steamed Broccoli is recognizable. Are you picking up what I’m putting down? As much as I love Chinese takeout, it seems to be getting expensive AF and that’s annoying AF. Our love for sweet, sticky, sauce-covered chicken led me on this expedition that I’m sure will result in the same for you – LOVING IT. The simmering concoction for the first step is truly what sets this dish apart from anything you can get at your corner Chinese takeout place – I assure you. Don’t skimp & don’t skip that step! From my Chinese-loving heart to yours, enjoy!
Thanks for stopping by!
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If you hated it, then same.
Have a great day & look for my next entry!
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