Grammy’s Chinese-Style Chicken involves browning flour-covered chicken, stir-frying fresh vegetables, and then cooking the mixture in orange juice with soy sauce.
I first had this dish as a teenager. I was working as a playground supervisor that summer, and had had too much sun that day. I arrived home and my Mom had made a new recipe that she called Chinese-Style Chicken Wings. I was warm and famished and I can still remember how yummy it was. It became a family favourite after that and I continued to make it once I had moved away from home.
These days, I prefer to use the boneless skinless chicken thighs, but wings would certainly fit the bill if you prefer.
Grammy’s Chinese-Style Chicken
Ingredients
- 8-12 chicken thighs - boneless, skinless
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion - large dice
- 1 1/2 tsp sugar
- 3 tbsp soy sauce - low-sodium
- 1 1/2 cup mushrooms - sliced
- 1 1/2 cup orange juice
- 2/3 cup chopped celery
- 1 bell pepper - sliced in strips and then cut in bite-sized pieces
- 1 cup broccoli florets - or zucchini sliced diagonally
Instructions
- Mix the flour and salt in a plastic or paper bag, and shake the chicken thighs in the mixture. Set aside the chicken and dispose of the extra flour.
- Heat oil in a large frying pan on high heat until it is shimmering. Add the chicken a few pieces at a time and brown nicely on all sides. Remove to a clean plate as the pieces are browned.
- Once all the pieces have been browned, add the onion to the frying pan and cook over medium heat until the onion is translucent.
- Add the chicken back to the pan and turn up the heat a bit.
- Drizzle the chicken with the soy sauce and sprinkle on the sugar.
- Stir-fry for a few minutes, until golden. Be careful: sugar burns easily!
- Add the mushrooms and orange juice to the pan and simmer, covered, for about half an hour.
- Add the rest of the vegetables, half a teaspoon of salt and a good grinding of pepper. Cover again and cook for about seven minutes.
- If the sauce appears too runny, thicken with a mixture of 1 tbsp of cornstarch and 2 tbsp of water.
- Serve with steamed rice.
Easy Steamed Rice
A no fail perfect way to prepare rice
Ingredients
- ½ cup uncooked rice - makes 1 cup of cooked rice
- ½ tsp salt
- 3 to 4 cups water or chicken, beef or vegetable broth
Instructions
- Bring the water and salt to a rolling boil. Add the rice and stir it to prevent it from sticking to the bottom. Cook the rice in the boiling water for 10 minutes.
- Drain the rice into a strainer and then fill the bottom of the saucepan that you just used with about 2 – 3 inches of water. Place the strainer on the saucepan (ensure that the rice is not sitting in water. Cover the strainer and bring the water to a boil (steaming the rice). Cook for at least 20 minutes, but can continue to steam it until it is ready to be eaten. To increase the number of servings, just add more rice to the boiling water and follow the other steps.
Variation 1
- I will often cook some onions and mushrooms in a small frying pan and add them to to the cooked rice before serving. Sometimes I just add a tablespoon of butter to the rice and stir it in.
Variation 2
- If you would like to cook brown rice, increase the initial cook time in the water from 10 to 14 minutes and then steam it until it is tender.
Variation 3
- Cook the rice in chicken, beef or vegetable broth instead of water for the first 10 minutes and then steam over water as described above.