Panda Express' Orange Chicken is Ted's favorite dish EVER. Unfortunately, Panda Express is not gluten friendly so it was up to me to try find a way to give him his favorite meal. After quite a bit of searching and a few trial and errors we finally found it! Ted thinks it's even better than Panda Express...but he could be simply buttering me up to make sure I keep cooking.
I personally am a HUGE fan of arrowroot flour to bread meats and to thicken sauce--(you don't need as much as you would if you used corn starch). However, you can use corn starch, tapioca flour, potato starch...pretty much any gluten free flour you may have at home! Try it and let me know what you think!
2 pounds Chicken, Cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 cup arrowroot flour, Plus 1 teaspoon (to thicken the sauce)
1 tablespoon of garlic powder
1 tablespoon of ginger
1/4 cup Oil (give or take, enough oil to surface fry the chicken, so it depends on the pan)
For the orange sauce:
1/4 cup Gluten Free Soy Sauce
1 teaspoon of coconut amino
1/4 cup Apple Vinegar
1/4 cup Orange Juice
1/4 cup Water
1/4 cup Brown Sugar, Packed
1/2 teaspoon Minced Garlic
½ teaspoon of ginger powder (a little less if you’re using fresh ginger)
1/4 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
1 tablespoon Orange Zest
1. Put arrowroot flour, garlic powder, and ginger powder into a bowl
2. Cut your chicken into bite-size pieces that are 1-2 inches.
3. Add the chicken to the bowl of arrowroot flour and spices, and toss to coat evenly. (If you want a thicker breading you can coat the pieces of chicken in the flour, then egg, then again the flour then let it sit for about 20 minutes, but honestly I find that to be MUCH more work and MUCH more of a mess than it's worth--however if you love thick crunchy breading then it may be worth it!).
4. Mix all the ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl and put aside for later.
5. Pour the 1/4 cup of oil in a frying pan (so there's enough oil to coat the entire bottom of the pan). Set the burner to med-high. Place the chicken pieces in the oil once it's ready (place a pinch of the breading in the oil and if it sizzles you're good to go!). Make sure you don't crowd the chicken otherwise you'll get soggy breading. Let the chicken pieces fry for a minute or two before checking one to see if it's a beautiful golden color. If it is, flip all the chicken pieces and wait another minute or two. Once the chicken pieces are golden brown they are set! Plate the chicken and put to the side so you can make the sauce.
6. Now take the bowl you put aside that is full of sauce ingredients. Pour it into the pan that had the chicken. De-glaze the pan with the sauce and heat it up, add the tablespoon of arrowroot flour to thicken the sauce, then add the chicken and coat all the pieces with the sauce.
This is served best over rice. You can garnish it with some green onion and orange zest if you'd like. Broccoli makes a great side!
