Orange chicken
Encyclopedia
Orange chicken is a Chinese-American
American Chinese cuisine
American Chinese cuisine refers to the style of food served by many Chinese restaurants in the United States. This type of cooking typically caters to Western tastes, and differs significantly from the original Chinese cuisine.-History:...

 dish of Hunan
Hunan cuisine
Hunan cuisine, sometimes called Xiang cuisine , consists of the cuisines of the Xiang River region, Dongting Lake and western Hunan Province, in China. Hunan cuisine consists of three styles:...

 origin. The variety of orange chicken most commonly found at American fast food restaurants
Fast food
Fast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a...

 consists of chopped, battered, and fried chicken
Chicken (food)
Chicken is the most common type of poultry in the world, and is prepared as food in a wide variety of ways, varying by region and culture.- History :...

 pieces coated in a sweet orange-flavored chili sauce, which thickens or caramelizes to a glaze. While the dish is very popular in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, it is most often found as a variation of General Tso's chicken
General Tso's chicken
General Tso's chicken is a sweet and spicy, deep-fried chicken dish that is popularly served in North American Chinese restaurants...

 rather than the authentic dish found in China.

In most western countries, the names "orange chicken", "orange peel chicken", and "tangerine chicken" are typically used for this particular dish. In Chinese, however, the dish is always known as "陈皮鸡", literally "old peel chicken", referring to dried orange or tangerine peel
Chenpi
Chenpi or chen pi is sun-dried tangerine peel used as a traditional seasoning in Chinese cooking and traditional medicine. They are aged by storing them dry...

, which is used in traditional Chinese medicine
Traditional Chinese medicine
Traditional Chinese Medicine refers to a broad range of medicine practices sharing common theoretical concepts which have been developed in China and are based on a tradition of more than 2,000 years, including various forms of herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage , exercise , and dietary therapy...

 as well as cooking. For western restaurants, fresh orange peel is often used instead, or even no peel at all.

Recipes and variations

Traditional orange chicken is first deep-fried, and then stir-fried in a lightly sweet soy-based sauce flavored with chopped dried orange peels. It is often garnished with vegetables, such as bok choy and baby carrots. While popular in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, the authentic orange chicken is generally unknown in the west, in order to appeal more to western palates. A recipe given by renowned cooking teacher and chef, Eileen Yin-Fei Lo
Eileen Yin-Fei Lo
Eileen Yin-Fei Lo is a chef. She is the author of eleven cookbooks on Chinese cuisine.-Childhood:Lo was born in Sun Tak, a suburb of Canton, China. At the age of five, she began to cook which was encouraged by her parents, particularly her mother who believed that “children should know how to...

, is far less sweet than most restaurants in the United States would prepare it and derives most of the flavor from the orange peel used. The typical recipe used in Western-influenced restaurants may use orange juice
Orange juice
Orange juice is a popular beverage made from oranges. It is made by extraction from the fresh fruit, by desiccation and subsequent reconstitution of dried juice, or by concentration of the juice and the subsequent addition of water to the concentrate...

or fresh orange peel rather than dried peel, a great deal of sugar, and often garnishes the dish with steamed broccoli and dried chili peppers. A similar dish is orange peel beef (also called tangerine peel beef).
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