This Orange Chicken Stir Fry recipe is beautiful, healthy, and delicious, and it's also easy to make. Simply combine the stir-fry sauce ingredients together, cut up your chicken and vegetables, then quickly fry everything up for the freshest possible taste. (A note about Ingredients: Instead of traditional Thai dark sweet soy sauce, I've used naturally healthy molasses as a substitution, which I think works wonders with this recipe.) ENJOY!
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- SERVES 4
- 3 boneless chicken breasts OR 6 boneless thighs, chopped into bite-size pieces
- 1/2 cup purple onion, roughly chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 thumb-size piece galangal OR ginger, sliced thinly into strips
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 orange or yellow bell pepper, chopped
- 1 cup asparagus tips OR snow peas
- Optional: 1 cup other prepared vegetables such as celery, carrots, or broccoli
- 1 orange, cut into 1/2-inch slices with rind and seeds removed, OR 1 can mandarin oranges, drained
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup dry roasted cashews
- Garnishes: handful of fresh coriander or basil, plus orange slices
- 2 Tbsp. oil for stir-frying
- STIR-FRY SAUCE:
- 3 Tbsp. natural molasses
- 3 Tbsp. soy sauce
- 1 tsp. dark soy sauce
- juice of 1 large orange (a little more than 1/2 cup)
- 1/2 tsp. 5-spice powder (available at Asian/Chinese food stores)
- 1/2 to 1 tsp. caynne pepper (1/2 tsp. for mild, or up to 1 tsp. for spicy)
- 2 Tbsp. fish sauce (available in Asian/Chinese food stores)
- Optional (for extra orange flavor): 1 tsp. natural orange extract (available in the baking aisle)
- 2 tsp. cornstarch
Preparation:
- Place all Stir-Fry Sauce ingredients together in a bowl. Whisk with a fork until the molasses is well distributed and the cornstarch has dissolved.
- Place prepared chicken in a bowl. Pour 1/4 of the stir-fry sauce over and mix in. Set chicken aside to marinate while you chop the vegetables and prepare the other ingredients.
- Place a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, and galangal or ginger. Stir-fry briefly to release the fragrance (30 seconds).
- Add the marinated chicken. Stir-fry until chicken pieces are opaque in the center (2-3 minutes). Add 1 tbsp. water if your wok/pan becomes dry.
- Add the asparagus or snow peas, plus any other firm vegetables you're cooking (such as carrots or celery). Also add 2-3 Tbsp. of the stir-fry sauce. Stir-fry 1-2 minutes.
- Add the rest of the vegetables plus the remaining stir-fry sauce. Stir-fry another 1-2 minutes, or until vegetables have softened slightly, but are still firm and colorful.
- Turn heat down to low. Add the oranges and the cashews, stirring gently to combine.
- Dish up onto serving plates, topping each portion with a sprinkling of fresh coriander or basil, plus an orange slice. Serve with rice and ENJOY!
