Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Spicy Orange Chicken Stir Fry

For my first blogging attempt, I adapted a recipe from the Bon Appetit June 2009 issue, Spicy Orange Chicken Stir-Fry. Normally I'd make brown rice, but I got home from work late and didn't feel like the wait (it takes twice as long to cook, but is twice as delicious, in my opinion.) So I got white jasmine rice on the stove ASAP-
Then I got to the main event:
1 1/2 lb chicken cutlets
one small red onion
Crushed red pepper
2 TBs vegetable oil
8 oz Sugar snap peas

3/4 c orange juice
3 TBs soy sauce
1 TB cornstarch
2 tsp finely grated orange peel (that sounded time consuming and I wasn't sure about the peel - I just used the zest of one orange)
Whisk the last four ingredients together in a medium sized bowl.  Set aside.

Chop the red onion - the recipe says thinly sliced, but I prefer diced onions than big onion pieces, so I dice.
Then prep the chicken - rinse and trim 1 1/2 lb chicken cutlets, cut crosswise into 1/2 inch strips. Make sure you pat the chicken very, very dry to that it will crisp up in the wok.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Heat the vegetable oil in a wok (preferably) or a non-stick skillet.  I used the wok our friends the Hartvickson's got us. I'm getting better using it, though it takes some practice.  You can see from the pic I still have a ways to go on the seasoning...
Once the oil is hot, add onion and a few dashes of crushed red pepper (to your taste.) Stir-fry for about 30 seconds and then add the chicken and continue to cook for 4-5 minutes until the onion is slightly crisp and the chicken is cooked through. Add the sugar snap peas and the juice mixture. Stir until sauce thickens and boils (about 2 more minutes.) Season to your liking and serve over the rice.

It was delicious! Nice orange flavor, crispy sugar snaps.  Tasty all around.
Next time I might add some slivered almonds, which I think would add a nice crunch.
Hubby gave it a 8.5 of 10. I gave it a 9 for being able to sit and eat 25 minutes after walking through the front door.