If you love Chinese takeout, but don’t love not knowing what goes into your food, you are in luck! This take-out fake out has all of the flavor, and you know exactly what goes into it!
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And now onto the food…
I have come a long way in the kitchen since I first started cooking. Even since I first started blogging. Just a few short years ago, I was a total follow-the-recipe-to-a-t kind of cook. And believe me – there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Cooking can still totally be enjoyable when you are just following a recipe! But I am definitely a lot more comfortable. More confident.
Take this chicken, for example. I had seen a recipe in a church cookbook that looked promising. I wrote down the basic ingredients, but then when I went to get started with dinner, I felt like changing it up a little bit. What I ended up with was a far cry from that original recipe. But do you know what? This totally worked. I’ll admit – I was a little bit worried at times, telling my husband that I didn’t know if dinner was even going to be any good. But it ended up better than good! My husband went back for seconds and begged for the leftovers the next day. I’m pretty sure this one will become a regular in our house.
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Chicken Oriental
Ingredients
Sauce
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 cup chicken broth
- 4 tablespoons pineapple-orange juice
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon grated onion
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon ginger
- dash of cardamom
- salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon water
Chicken
- 1 1/4 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs, cubed
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 egg
- vegetable oil
- Rice for serving
- sliced green onions for topping
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Stir in the chicken broth, juice, soy sauce, onion, brown sugar, ginger and cardamom. Season with salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat until it comes to a gentle boil. Let it cook for about 5 minutes.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and the water. Add the cornstarch mixture to the sauce and cook just until the sauce starts to thicken up. (This will probably happen very quickly.) Remove the sauce from the heat.
- Meanwhile, pour a layer of vegetable oil into a large saute pan and warm over medium heat. Add the flour to a shallow dish and season with salt and pepper. Add the egg to another shallow pan and add about a teaspoon of water. Lightly whisk.
- Working in 3-4 batches, take some of the chicken and dip it in the egg mixture. Allow some of the egg to drip off, and put the chicken in the flour mixture to coat. Use tongs to transfer the chicken to the hot oil and pan fry, turning as necessary, until the chicken is golden brown and cooked through. Remove to a paper towel lined plate. Repeat with the remaining chicken, adding more oil as necessary.
- Put all of the cooked chicken into a large bowl. Pour the sauce over the top and stir to coat the chicken. Serve over rice and top with sliced green onions.
Recipe Notes:
*I love chicken thighs (I think they have more flavor) but boneless, skinless chicken breasts will work here, too.
More Chinese Food Take-Out Fake-Outs:
Around the Web:
Asian Chicken Kebabs from My Baking Addiction
Dragon Roll from Just One Cookbook
Sausage Egg Rolls with Homemade Sweet and Sour Sauce from Favorite Family Recipes
Elle says
I am definitely a lover of chinese food, this looks fantastic 🙂
Cheryl illinois says
Didn’t know where else to comment on your travel list so I thought I would do it here. You need to add Charleston South Carolina to your list and Pittsburgh Pennsylvania.I know, I know Pittsburgh? really? Yes, really. It is a wonderful town with great food and much history. It sits in a beautiful hilly area and The University of Pittsburgh has a lovely campus.Lots of museums and NO MORE steel mills!
Dorothy @ Crazy for Crust says
This sounds wonderful! I LOVE making asian food at home – my daughter will actually eat it! 🙂
Nutmeg Nanny says
I am definitely a lover of chinese food, this looks fantastic 🙂
Abbe@This is How I Cook says
Love the smell of a Chinese restaurant and the fact that you can smell it before you walk in the door. It hooks me every time-just like this dish!
Tina @ Tina's Chic Corner says
My husband and I love Chinese take-out! Your pictures are amazing! This dish looks so delicious and easy to make. Pinning and making. 🙂
ashley - baker by nature says
This is one of those meals I could eat every single night! Love it!
Chels R. says
I’ve recently discovered I can’t eat Chinese takeout anymore. Every time I do, I get sick. I think it’s because My body has gotten use to “good” for you food and when I try to eat a real meal on the quicker side (fast food) I just feel gross and get sick. So this is a great way for me to make our own Chinese takeout 🙂
Nessa says
Chinese take-out is soooo good! Hope to make this at home 🙂
Nancy P.@thebittersideofsweet says
Love some Chinese take out but it is good to make it at home! This looks delicious!
Stephanie @ Girl Versus Dough says
Gotta love when experimenting with a recipe goes the RIGHT way. 🙂 This looks so good — I’ve been craving Chinese food lately so I’ll definitely have to make this!
Georgia @ The Comfort of Cooking says
Oh, now this is my kind of Asian meal! Looks so scrumptious, Deborah.
Belinda @themoonblushbaker says
I might be Asian but sometimes a good american Chinese take away is hard to beat. I love this recipe for chicken, it is so easy! I often use the orange sauce for tofu too. Thanks for sharing
Joanne says
The best thing about becoming more experienced with cooking is knowing you can play around and change things up…and everything will be okay. This sounds great!
Colleen @ What's Baking in the Barbershop?! says
Looks awesome! Faaar better than take-out!
Tieghan says
This is my favorite kind of chicken! Looks so good!