This isn’t your typical Orange Chicken Recipe. While dinkin’ around online for inspiration for a recipe idea I came across this Copy Cat recipe for Bang Bang Shrimp, which had a surprising ingredient in the sauce that I least expected to find….Mayonnaise! (yea, shocking right? Or is it just me, that thinks it’s weird in an ‘Asian’ recipe?) So I decided to try it. Now unlike most recipes I post here, I usually try the dish out before hand or at least know what I’m doing to begin with. But, this time I decided to take pictures as I came up with a recipe of my own on the spot…and Orange Chicken is what I came up with, or that’s what I’m calling it.
My (Thai) Sweet Chili Sauce
This recipe may be very different from what you’re used to seeing for Orange Chicken. For one, I oven-fried (baked) the chicken pieces rather than deep frying them. The coating I used, isn’t typically ‘Asian’ either. Secondly, the base of the sauce is Mayonnaise and Thai Sweet Chili Sauce (see my homemade sweet chili sauce recipe here, or you can use store-bought).
Now, since I came up with this recipe pretty much as I went along, I was a little more scatter-brained than usual and I missed taking a couple pictures of some steps. I do hope you’ll excuse me for this. However, I loved how the final dish turned out and rather than wait till the next time I make it again (which I most definitely will!), I thought I’d post it anyway. Without much further ado …my version of….
(Thai) Sweet Chili Sauce Recipe
Orange Chicken Recipe
Ingredients:
For the chicken-
2 large chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces.
3 eggs
2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp hot sauce
1 cup of flour
1/2 tsp pepper
For the sauce-
1/2 cup of Mayonnaise
4-5 tbsp sweet chili sauce
Zest of half an orange
1/2 cup orange juice (I freshly squeezed it)
green onions/ chives for garnish
Method:
– Pre-heat the oven to 400F. Cut 2 large chicken breasts into approx. 1 inch pieces or bite sized pieces.
– In a bowl, whisk together 3 eggs, a teaspoon of garlic salt and a touch of hot sauce (siracha/tobasco…whatever you have).
– Add the chicken pieces to the egg and mix them around so that all they’re all coated in egg.
– In another shallow bowl/dish, mix together a cup of flour, the remaining garlic salt and some black pepper together.
– In small batches of 3-4 pieces, coat the egg drenched chicken pieces in the seasoned flour and place them on a foil lined baking sheet. You could also deep fry the pieces if you want, but I choose to bake them (although it doesn’t look the same as when you fry the chicken, when coated in the sauce it taste’s just as good!)
– Bake the chicken at 400F for about 15 minutes and them stick them under the broiler for another 5 minutes to brown them slightly.
– While the chicken is cooking, you can mix together all the ingredients for the sauce. Half a cup of mayonnaise, 4-5 tbsp of Thai sweet chili sauce (I used my home-made recipe), the zest of half an orange and half a cup of orange juice.
– Whisk it all together (I know it looks gross at first) until there are no more lumps.
– Pour the sauce into a sauce pan and bring it to a gentle boil on medium-high heat.
– Once the chicken is slightly browned and cooked through, add it to the simmering sauce. Mix it well so that all the pieces are coated in the sweet sauce. The flour on the chicken will make the sauce thicken and it’ll also start looking glossier and clearer.
– Turn off the heat once the sauce reaches the desired thickness.
– Garnish with some fresh chopped green onion/scallions or garlic chives.
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This does look absolutely delish I have to agree. But, I really can’t get my head around the mayo!!! It’s just not right. Maybe it’s because I hate mayo in a hot dish, I don’t know. But as good as it looks, it’s sounds disgusting to me LOL.
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I’m not a big fan of Mayo, myself… hot or cold. But you could hardly tell or taste it in the finished dish. I think it just gave the sauce some volume and sheen, cos of the oil in Mayo (I guess). Whatever it was, it worked! =)
add sesame seeds too at the end. you won’t regret it, unless you’re allergic.
Yes, that sounds great…I’ll definitley do that next time 🙂
This looks delicious. Definitely trying it for dinner tonight
Do you think this could make for a simple lemon chicken recipe by replacing the orange?
Yes! I do think this recipe would make a great base for a lemon chicken. Just add lemon zest and lemon juice (maybe a little less than the orange juice because is more tart) to replace the orange in it and it should work.
I am really looking forward to try this yummy recipe…but my only problem is the mayo!..plz suggest a substitute for mayo…
Hi there! I saw this on foodgawker and was totally mesmerised by the seriously tasty looking photos 🙂 I hope you don’t mind but it was so delicious that I blogged cooking it with a credit and link back to your blog. Thank you for sharing. I’m really looking forward to checking out the rest of your blog!
Hi Fifi, I’m glad you liked the recipe and it turned out good for you. I liked your blog post and totally agree that adding brocolli, green bean or some sort of veggie will help balance the dish out, cos it is rich. 🙂
I made this a few weeks ago and it was great…granted I accidentally thawed out pork chops rather than chicken, so we had orange bang pork. The boyfriend still declared the recipe a keeper and I’ll be making it with chicken this week 🙂
That’s great to hear Crystal! 🙂
Just wanted to say I have made this twice now and every time it comes out amazing. Great recipe!
That’s great to hear Nick! I appreciate it 🙂
I made this recipe tonight, along with the Chow Mein recipe. They both came out incredible! I doubled the recipe and we’re taking it for lunch tomorrow as well. Thanks.
So nice to hear Greg! Glad you liked both recipes 🙂