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Big Bowl is one of my absolute favorite restaurants, but unfortunately, it is far away and expensive. So, in my search through the InterWeb to find a knockoff, I found one better: the actual recipe! You can find it, and many others,
here. My all-time favorite menu item is the Orange Chicken and Fried Rice. This recipe is definitely the best Asian food I have ever made, and comes very close to tasting like it's restaurant-made sister. Timing is important with these two items, as they both require constant attention while cooking. I made the orange sauce, then fried the chicken, and tossed the two together. I stuck that pan in a warm oven while I made the fried rice. And, the recipe calls for peanut oil, but all I had was vegetable oil and olive oil. After I used all my vegetable oil, I had to use about 1/4 cup olive oil. (It tasted fine) After reading this, I bet you're hungry, so here is the recipe!
Big Bowl Orange Chicken
Ingredients:
¾ pound chicken breast cut into 1 to 2" slices
1 egg, beaten
¼ cup flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
½ teaspoon salt
Sauce Ingredients:
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
¼ cup lemon juice
5 ½ tablespoons sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons julienned scallion
3 tablespoons julienned ginger
8 slices red Fresno pepper, julienned
2 fresh water chestnuts, peeled and sliced
2 ¼ cups peanut oil
3 thin orange slices, peeled and cut into quarters
¼ cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with ¼ cup water
Preparation:
Mix the chicken slices with the beaten egg, flour, cornstarch and salt. Let sit for 10 minutes and, rubbing with your fingers, work the chicken together with the flour mixture again---repeat in another 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the orange sauce. Combine the light soy sauce, lemon juice, sugar, and salt. In a wok or skillet, heat 2 cups of the peanut oil to 375 degrees. Keep it at that temperature while you cook the sauce.
Heat a skillet or saucepan to hot and add the remaining ¼ cup peanut oil**. When hot, add the scallion-ginger mixture. Cook, stirring rapidly, for about 15 seconds just to coat with oil. Add the orange slices and cook another 10 seconds. Add the soy-lemon-sugar and salt mixture along with the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Recombine the cornstarch-water mixture and add to the sauce. Allow to boil, thicken and clear, then turn off the heat.
Meanwhile, add the chicken to the oil and fry until crispy. Remove to drain. Immediately add the chicken to the sauce that you just made and toss briefly to coat. Serve with rice (recipe below).
**I wouldn't actually recommend heating the pan before you add the oil, unless you have cooked this way before. Adding oil to a very hot pan can cause splattering and possible burns. I put the oil in a cold pan and heated it, and I had no problems.
Chinese Fried Rice
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons peanut oil
2 eggs
4 Cups previously cooked Jasmine rice (from night before is best, so it will break apart more easily)
½ teaspoon mushroom soy
¾ teaspoon Kosher salt
¾ teaspoon cane sugar
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ Cup thin sliced scallion greens (adjust for taste)
Preparation:
Using your hands, break up the Jasmine rice as best you can to separate the grains.
Heat a wok or skillet over high heat. When hot, add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the egg and stir quickly to break up. Add rice and toss while breaking up any lumps with the back of a spatula; until rice grains are well coated with oil. Add mushroom soy and toss to distribute. Add sugar, salt and pepper and toss to distribute. Pull off heat and toss.
Yields 4 as a part of a larger meal
