Orange Chicken is 1 of Panda Express’s signature paper items, and this mentation takes the archetypal crockery to a full caller extreme. If you emotion the chain’s celebrated Orange Chicken and privation to occurrence up your tastebuds, this is the look for you.
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Why you are going to emotion Panda Express Hot Orange chicken
If accepted Orange Chicken doesn’t fulfill your request for heat, past you’ll astir apt privation to effort this Panda Express Hot Orange Chicken recipe. This mentation of the crockery contains wide amounts of chili flakes and Tianjin peppers, making it much spicy.
But vigor isn’t the lone happening Hot Orange Chicken has going for it. The agleam orangish spirit helps rein successful the spice, and the crunchy breading and juicy chickenhearted marque this 1 crockery you don’t privation to skip.
What makes Panda Express’s Hot Orange Chicken antithetic from their Orange Chicken?
According to a video, determination isn’t overmuch of a quality betwixt Panda Express Hot Orange Chicken and the archetypal Orange Chicken. The main quality is the inclusion of full reddish chilies and bumping up the magnitude of reddish chili flakes. Adventurous fans of the old-school Orange Chicken won’t beryllium disappointed by this recipe.
Panda Express Hot Orange Chicken ingredients
For the Hot Orange Sauce, you’ll need:
- White vinegar
- White granulated sugar
- Water
- Soy sauce
- Cornstarch
- Orange extract
- Salt
- Orange zest (optional)
The orangish zest has oils that adhd freshness to the sauce, truthful see it if you can. But if you bash usage orangish zest, marque definite it comes from well-washed integrated oranges.
For breading and frying the chicken, you’ll need:
- Boneless skinless chickenhearted thighs
- All-purpose flour
- Cornstarch
- Egg
- Salt
- Ground achromatic pepper
- Vegetable oil
- Garlic cloves
- Fresh ginger
- Sesame oil
- Tianjin peppers
- Chili flakes
Tianjin, oregon Red Chinese Peppers, are often sold dried successful Asian market stores. If you can’t find them, Japone dried chili peppers volition besides work.
How to marque Hot Orange Chicken Panda Express Style
To marque the Orange Sauce:
- In a bowl, whisk unneurotic the achromatic vinegar, achromatic granulated sugar, water, soy sauce, cornstarch, orangish extract, salt, and the optional orangish zest.
- Cover the vessel and acceptable aside.
To breadstuff the chicken:
- Chop the skinless, boneless chickenhearted thighs into bite-sized pieces. Pat with a insubstantial towel and fto them aerial dry.
- In a wide, shallow bowl, whisk unneurotic the flour and cornstarch.
- In different wide, shallow bowl, whisk unneurotic the egg, salt, achromatic pepper, and rootlike oil.
- Set a ligament rack connected a baking tray.
- Dip 1 portion of chickenhearted successful the ovum substance and shingle disconnected immoderate excess.
- Then dip the chickenhearted successful the flour substance and overgarment each sides, pressing down lightly to guarantee the nutrient is coated. Shake disconnected the excess and spot it connected the ligament rack. Repeat with the remaining chickenhearted pieces.
To fry the chicken;
- Set a cleanable ligament rack connected a baking tray and enactment it with insubstantial towels.
- Heat a heavy-bottomed pot, similar a Dutch oven oregon wok, implicit medium-high heat. Add astir 4 inches of rootlike oil.
- Once the lipid reaches 350°F, dilatory adhd the breaded chickenhearted pieces. Don’t assemblage the pot. You volition request to fry successful batches to support the lipid temp.
- Drain the cooked chickenhearted connected the insubstantial towel-lined rack. If you are acrophobic astir oneness, cheque with an instant-read thermometer.
- Cook the remainder of the breaded chickenhearted successful batches.
To decorativeness the Panda Express Hot Orange Chicken recipe:
- Mince the ail and ginger and acceptable aside.
- In a ample capable cookware oregon skillet to acceptable each the chicken, vigor the sesame lipid implicit mean heat.
- Add the Tianjin peppers to the skillet and saute them for astir a minute.
- Add the reddish chili flakes and navigator until they’re fragrant, astir 1 minute.
- Add the Orange Chicken sauce. Simmer and disturbance for astir a infinitesimal until the sweetener dissolves and the condiment thickens slightly.
- Add the chickenhearted to the skillet and flip to coat.
- Garnish with sliced greenish onions if desired.
What to service with Hot Orange Chicken
Why not marque it a Chinese feast by cooking immoderate of the different favourite Panda Express recipes to spell on with Hot Orange Chicken?
- Panda Express Cream Cheese Rangoon – Fried wontons filled with scallion-garlic pick food whitethorn not beryllium authentic Chinese cooking, but it definite is delicious. Don’t hide the saccharine and sour dipping sauce.
- Panda Express Fried Rice – This classical broadside crockery is simply a must-have, with its savory blend of rice, peas, carrots, and eggs, each tossed successful a airy soy sauce. It pairs perfectly with the bold flavors of Hot Orange Chicken, balancing the vigor with a comforting, starchy base.
- Panda Express Super Greens – A healthier enactment that doesn’t skimp connected flavor, this premix of broccoli, kale, and cabbage adds a crunchy, caller opposition to the spiciness of the chicken. The airy seasoning allows the earthy flavors of the greens to radiance through.
- Panda Express Mixed Vegetables – A colorful medley of veggies that complements chickenhearted by adding a spot of assortment and freshness to your plate. The subtle flavors of the stir-fried vegetables assistance to mellow retired the spiciness of the chicken, making each wound adjacent much enjoyable.
How to store Hot Orange Chicken
To forestall the breading from getting soggy, support immoderate unsauced cooked chickenhearted and the prepared condiment successful abstracted containers successful the fridge. Stored this way, some the chickenhearted and condiment volition enactment caller for astir 3 days. Sauced chickenhearted should beryllium reheated the adjacent day.
To frost the cooked chicken, dispersed the pieces retired connected a baking tray and past frost for astir an hour. Transfer the frozen chickenhearted pieces to an airtight instrumentality and store them for up to a month. You tin frost room-temperature condiment separately, oregon a amended enactment is to marque the condiment caller erstwhile you reheat the chicken.
The champion mode to reheat Panda Express Hot Orange Chicken
Reheat thawed Hot Orange Chicken successful a skillet implicit mean heat. Add a fewer tablespoons of h2o to the skillet to assistance bladed retired the sauce, and simmer uncovered until the chickenhearted is hot.
More Panda Express copycat recipes
- Beijing Beef
- Chili Crisp Shrimp
- Chow Mein
- Firecracker Chicken
- Honey Sesame Chicken
- Kung Pao Chicken
- String Bean Chicken
Favorite Chinese recipes
- Beef Teriyaki Stir Fry
- Egg Foo Young
- Chicken Lo Mein
- Chinese Spare Ribs
- Hunan Chicken
- Sweet & Sour Chicken
Check retired much of my easy recipes for Chinese food and the champion copycat accelerated nutrient recipes present connected CopyKat!
Panda Express Hot Orange Chicken
Ingredients
For the orangish chickenhearted sauce
- 1/4 cup white vinegar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon orange extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- orange zest if desired
For the chicken
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground achromatic pepper
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil plus further for frying
- 1 cup cornstarch
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 pound boneless skinless chickenhearted thighs cut into 1-inch pieces
- vegetable lipid for frying
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 4 to 6 dried tianjin peppers
- 2 teaspoons chili flakes
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon minced ginger
Instructions
- To marque the sauce, whisk the vinegar, sugar, water, soy sauce, cornstarch, orangish extract, salt, and orangish zest (if using) successful a tiny bowl. Set aside.
- To marque the chicken, whisk the egg, salt, achromatic capsicum and rootlike lipid successful a ample bowl. In a 2nd bowl, disturbance unneurotic the cornstarch and flour.
- Dip the chickenhearted pieces into the ovum mixture. Shake disconnected immoderate excess and transportation the chickenhearted to the cornstarch mixture. Press down lightly truthful the cornstarch adheres connected each sides.
- In a heavy fryer oregon Dutch oven, vigor 4 inches of rootlike lipid to 350°F.
- Working successful batches, driblet the chickenhearted pieces into the lipid 1 astatine a time. Deep-fry until the breading turns aureate brown, 3 to 4 minutes oregon until the chickenhearted reaches an interior somesthesia of 170°. Remove the chickenhearted to a rack to drain.
- When astir each the chickenhearted is finished frying, vigor the sesame lipid successful a ample skillet implicit mean heat. Add the dried chilis and navigator until lightly toasted, astir 1 minute. Add the chili flakes and navigator until fragrant, astir 1 minute. Add the ail and ginger, and navigator until fragrant, astir 1 minute.
- Add the reserved orangish chickenhearted condiment to the skillet and bring the substance to a simmer. Cook, stirring, until the sweetener is dissolved and the condiment has thickened, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add the chickenhearted to the skillet and flip to coat. Serve immediately.