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  1. Orange Chicken for Lunar New Year

    Orange Chicken as we know it today was invented for @pandaexpressofficial in 1987 by a Taiwanese Chef who trained in France and worked at an American company owned by a Chinese-born businessman. It’s an incredibly international dish, and reminds me a lot of my own journey through life. Though I’m American, I have influences, relationships, and connections to multiple cultures and countries.. Specifically, France and China… just like ORANGE CHICKEN!!!

    The secret ingredient for this recipe is an aged mandarin peel. It’s used in Chinese medicine to help with warmth and digestion, but it also packs a tasty citrus punch when cooked. I got these (and for many years, I’ve been getting lots of other ingredients) from @themalamarketllc
    I highly recommend checking them out for this and other recipes.

    RECIPE:
    INGREDIENTS:
    1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs 450g
    MARINADE
    1 Tbsp water 17g
    2 tsp Shaoxing wine (Mirin or white wine) 10g
    1/2 tsp salt 3g
    1/4 tsp sesame oil 3g
    1/8 tsp white pepper 1g
    AROMATICS
    3 to 4 pieces dried tangerine or mandarin orange peel
    6 dried red chili peppers (Or 1 tsp red pepper flakes)
    3 star anise
    1 clove garlic minced 5g
    1 knob ginger minced 5g
    CHICKEN COATING
    1 cup cornstarch 160g
    1 Egg
    ½ c Flour 60g
    SAUCE
    1 cup Orange Juice 240g
    1/4 cup Sugar 50g
    2 Tbsp Rice Vinegar or White Vinegar 30g
    1 Tbsp Soy Sauce 15g
    GARNISH
    Toasted Sesame Seeds (Garnish)
    Sliced scallions (Garnish)

    STEPS:
    -Cut the chicken thighs into grape-sized bits… some larger, some smaller. Size differences work well for this recipe in my opinion.
    -MARINATE the chicken for 20-30 minutes while you hydrate the mandarin peels, chilis, and star anise
    -When the chicken is ready, rub on 1 Tbsp cornstarch 10g
    -Then coat with a thick batter made from 1 Egg and ¼ cup Cornstarch 40g

    -Fully coat the battered chicken in a 1:1 mix of flour and cornstarch
    -Shallow fry in about ½ inch or 1 cm or oil till golden brown 4-5 minutes.
    (For EXTRA crispy chicken, pull the chicken out when it is light brown, replace the oil and then fry again at 400F/200C till golden brown)
    -Lightly toast the hydrated aromatics for a few minutes, saving the hydrating liquid to make a cornstarch slurry with 1 Tbsp cornstarch 10g for 2Tbsp liquid 30g
    -Once toasted, add minced garlic and ginger for 20-30 seconds before pouring in the sauce
    -Once the sauce simmers, add the slurry slowly until the sauce reaches its desired consistency. (You may not need it all)
    -Toss your chicken in the sauce to coat and then garnish

    Happy Year of the Dragon!!!

  8. hey i know youre obviously not trying to be like "oh this is the real thing" and you aeem very nice but i think the best way to introduce these foods is to introduce them as something original

    cause its not "real orange chicken". its just a different dish. its just a good dish that can stand on its own introduced with its own name. the history behind orange chicken as we see in america is actually very complicated and its not nessecarily an american invention.

    of course, chinese american food is its own unique culinary culture made by Chinese immigrants, distinct from mainland china but inherently chinese. but orange chicken is actually complicated because Panda Express claimed it to be an original(and thus inauthentic) creation, but the story isnt so cut and dry

  26. Btw, regarding your pumpkin creme brulee video, I think the issue with putting stuff in the description on shorts. Alot of people don't know how to get to it.. It took me awhile to figure out that the 3 dots at the top is how you get to the description. Idk why they won't make it so that you can click the video title and have it bring the description up that way. So thank you for taking the time out to make videos and putting the recipe in the comments as well

  36. A couple things.

    The dried mandarin peels still have their pith. So it's actually bitter. If you don't like it, soak the peels in warm or room temperature water first and you can scratch it off after. You can reuse or discard the soaking liquid depending if you like the taste.

    A bit of trivia. Orange chicken has nothing to do with the original 陳皮雞 in China. The original version is a spicy and savory dish with dried chili and szechuan peppercorns. It does not use orange juice.

    Orange chicken is a variation of general tso (tao) chicken. General tso chicken is a sweet and spicy dish. If anything, orange chicken is like a sweeter chicken version of sweet and sour pork.

    But this version with the dried Mandarin peels are definitely welcomed.

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