Copy cat Panda express orange chicken

I think it needs to be said that trashy Chinese in Australia and trashy Chinese in the USA are world's apart. In my opinion, trashy Chinese in Australia (which I do feel like eating sometimes) involve greasy balls of batter, with tiny pieces of meat in them, thin slices of meat "stir-fried" (but really braised) in thick, goopy sauce. Just makes the cut of being "edible".

And before anyone says, oh Chinese in Melbourne and Sydney are awesome, I would like to say - I do not refute that. Melbourne and Sydney have splendid Chinese establishments and delicious chinese BBQ houses. So does Hobart (not the BBQ house bit, but Chinese establishment). But I mean TRASHY - cheap, nasty and fast.

I thought that trashy Chinese in the States would be the same, but I felt like I needed to try it. We were in Vegas (post to come) and we wandered up to the food court and lo and behold, staring straight at us, was none other than Panda Express. I was excited to try their orange chicken and their beef and broccoli. It was delicious and miles ahead of Australian trashy Chinese! Unfortunately, that was the ONLY time we had the opportunity to eat it, so when I got home to Australia, I was still dreaming of this orange deliciousness!

Have I mentioned that Google is my best friend? A quick scan of Google brought me to this page and while I can't remember enough of Panda Express' orange chicken to know if this is comparable, I still think it's pretty delicious!

My recipe for a delicious, easy, orange chicken! (Adapted from here):

Orange Chicken - copycat Panda Express

For frying:

• enough oil for a deep fry
• chicken thigh fillets cut in strips (about 500g for four people)
• cornflour (enough to coat the chicken)
• a touch of salt and pepper to season

For the sauce (I've doubled the sauce - any extras can be refrigerated and used another time)

• 3 TBS of light soy sauce
• 1 cup of sugar (I know, heaps!!! but it balances out with the vinegar)
• a bit less than 1 cup of white vinegar
• 3 TBS (or more if you prefer) of orange juice
• zest of 1 orange
• cornflour mixed with cold water (to thicken the sauce)

Heat the oil.

Season chicken and add enough cornflour to coat the chicken. It may turn out gloopy, but that's ok.

When the oil is hot enough, deep fry the chicken in batches.

While the chicken is frying, add all the ingredients for the sauce (except the cornflour) in a bowl and mix together.

When you are frying the last batch of chicken (I usually put the cooked chicken in a low oven to keep warm and crispy), heat up a frying pan or wok and put the sauce in. Once all the sugar has melted and the mixture starts to bubble, add the cornflour mixture to thicken the sauce. Once the sauce is of the right consistency, dunk all the fried chicken in and coat with sauce.

Serve immediately with rice. :)

Thai-inspired chicken and prawn cake

Look at my pretty speckled pan... isn't it lovely! Will rave about this later! 

I know, it sounds weird. And a little disgusting. But rest assured... it was delicious!!

For my Malaysian feast on the weekend, I bought some prawns for a noodle stir fry, but I didn't use it all. And they were on the verge of going bad in the fridge. Which reminds me of that story of the woman whose husband cheated on her... (have you heard this one?) but I digress.

So I've been planning on mincing my own meat for a while, and what better time to experiment than now. Popped some chicken thigh fillets into the food processor with the prawns together with some soy sauce and fish sauce. I thought about putting in some cornflour following what my mother used to do... but I thought better of it.

But surely to make it more "Thai", it would need more than that? I went through my pantry and found a packet of red curry paste. And green curry paste, and come Malaysian vegetarian curry paste... and hold on a second... some Malaysian chicken curry paste AND some jarred butter chicken from Pataks. What the hell am I doing with so many different curry pastes? Oh well, better start using them! Grabbed a packet of the red curry past and put half of the packet into the mixture and ground well. And... may have put some cornflour after all!

I was pretty happy with the end-product, but in the future, I might have used a touch of sugar and maybe some acid. And what is annoying is that I have both kaffir lime leaves and fresh limes in my fridge! Oh well, there is always a next time! I have included that hit of acid in my recipe below... enjoy!

Thai Prawn and Chicken cakes
 

Makes about 6 little patties
Calories per patty: Approx 58 calories

• 250 grams of chicken thigh fillets (thereabouts)
• 100 grams of prawns
• 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
• a couple of dashes of fish sauce
• a teaspoon of sugar
• a couple of kaffir lime leaves, cut finely
• half a packet of Mae Ploy red curry paste (approximately 25 grams)
• 1.5 teaspoons of cornflour

Put all the ingredients into a food processor and grind until all ingredients are mixed together.

Wet your hands and shape the mixture into little patties.

Pan-fry until cooked through.

(This was quite healthy for me as I have a wonderful non-stick pan, so I pan fried it without any oil... of course I will be raving about my pan another day!)

I would serve it with a simple salad of iceberg lettuce (I really love iceberg lettuce), and cucumbers (don't even GET me started on cucumbers... I just love them, they are ridunkulous). I don't think it really needs a dressing, but if you are so inclined, this dressing  I found at Closet Cooking looks delicious and I think it would be perfect for the salad! 

Enjoy! 

xoxo