Panda Specific Orange Hen – CopyKat Recipes

January 10, 2023

1

Learn to make Orange Hen like Panda Specific with this simple copycat recipe. Get pleasure from crispy batter fried hen with orange sauce for dinner. Serve Panda Specific Orange Hen with steamed or fried rice for a tasty Chinese language meal.

copycat Panda Express orange chicken and rice on a platter.

This put up incorporates affiliate hyperlinks. As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

What Makes Panda Specific Orange Hen So Good?

If in case you have ever been to a Panda Specific, there’s a good likelihood you could have tried the chain’s Orange Hen. Virtually half the diners find yourself ordering the dish. And why not? It’s deliciously tangy, with a contact of warmth and sweetness to assist stability the flavour.

You don’t have to depart your own home to get pleasure from Panda Specific’ most well-known dish. Strive making it at residence with this recipe.

Why You Ought to Strive This Recipe

Nothing compares to nice do-it-yourself Orange Hen, however you want a very good recipe. Many on-line copycat Orange Hen recipes are disappointing as a result of they lack the spice ranges of the genuine Panda Specific Orange Hen.

This recipe captures that warmth through the use of genuine Asian chili oil. Discovering Asian chili oil could take a little bit of effort, however the outcomes are value it. When you grasp the way to make Orange Hen sauce, you’ll by no means wish to use bottled orange sauce once more.

Components to Put together Orange Glazed Hen

For breading the do-it-yourself Orange Hen, you’ll want:

Egg
Salt
Floor white pepper
Cornstarch
All-purpose flour
Water
Vegetable oil
Hen thighs

For the Orange Hen sauce, you’ll want:

Orange juice, pulp-free
Soy sauce
White sugar
Powdered ginger
Floor white pepper
Rice or white vinegar
Cornstarch
Chili oil
Sesame oil

Cooks in Asia use fiery chili oil as each a condiment and an ingredient. One revered model you will discover in some supermarkets is Lee Kum Kee, however it’s positively on the spicy aspect. Mr. Bing’s Chili Crisp is milder however tougher to seek out in shops, so look on-line.

For frying, you’ll want:

Panda Express orange chicken ingredients on a tray.

How To Make Orange Hen

There are a number of elements to making ready this Panda Specific Orange Hen recipe – the hen, sauce, after which placing them collectively for serving. Listed here are the directions:

To prep the hen:

Take away any pores and skin, fats, and tendons from the boneless thighs.
Chop the hen into one-inch bite-size items and put aside.

To bread the hen:

Use a fork to stir collectively the flour, salt, floor white pepper, and corn starch in a medium mixing bowl.
Whisk the water, egg, and vegetable oil in a separate bowl.
Add the moist substances to the dry ones and stir to mix.
Add the hen items to the batter combination and stir properly to coat.
Cowl the bowl with plastic wrap and put it within the fridge for half-hour.

To make the orange sauce:

You may put together the orange sauce whereas the hen is within the fridge.
Whisk collectively all of the sauce substances in a bowl. Be sure that the sugar totally dissolves. Set the sauce.

To fry the hen:

Take away the bowl of hen and batter from the fridge to permit it to heat up a short while establishing the fryer.
A deep fryer makes cooking the hen a lot simpler, however you can even use a large, thick-bottomed pot and a clip-on deep-fry thermometer.
Pour a minimum of 4 inches of vegetable oil into the fryer or pot. Warmth the oil to 350 levels.
Place a paper towel-lined wire rack on high of a rimmed baking sheet.
Fry the hen in batches till it’s golden brown, about 6 to 7 minutes. Control the thermometer and regulate the warmth to make sure correct cooking.
Use a spider to take away the cooked hen from the oil and drain the surplus oil off the fried hen items.
Repeat with the remaining hen.

batter fried chicken pieces for orange chicken.

To sauce the hen:

Warmth a skillet or wok over medium-high warmth.
Stir the sauce and thoroughly pour it into the nice and cozy pan. Prepare dinner the sauce till it thickens into the consistency of skinny pancake syrup. When you over-reduce the sauce, add some water to skinny it out.
Put the fried hen items into the pan with the thickened sauce and coat properly. Warmth the hen for a few minute extra earlier than serving.

homemade Panda Express orange chicken over white rice.

What To Serve With Panda Specific Orange Hen

White rice, fried rice, and broccoli are in style sides, however you’ll be able to serve the orange glazed hen with brown rice and different Asian greens like steamed bok choy or sauteed water spinach.

Strive slicing the inexperienced a part of the scallions or inexperienced onions and garnishing the hen with the slices to deliver a little bit freshness to the dish. You may also garnish the dish with orange zest or finely chopped purple peppers.

How To Retailer the Leftovers

Cool any unserved hen items shortly and save them in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as three days.

You may freeze Orange Hen in a freezer-safe container for as much as two months. Thaw it within the fridge in a single day.

What’s the Greatest Option to Reheat Orange Hen

Warmth thawed Orange Hen in a skillet over medium warmth. Add some orange juice or water to assist loosen the sauce and stop burning.

closeup of copycat Panda Express orange chicken.

Extra Panda Specific Copycat Recipes

Favourite Chinese language Recipes

Try extra of my simple Chinese language meals recipes and the most effective quick meals recipes on CopyKat!