When Jason and I got home last week there was a fairly large package on our front porch. Last year with all my wedding planning and then Christmas there was a package on the front porch every other day but after the holidays the packages have stopped- until now! The box was a gift from a close family friend of Jasons who lives in Florida and was full of perfect, bright, Florida Oranges! What a lovely surprise! So me being me I immediately ate one and it was honestly the best orange that I've ever had and since New Jersey has been freezing lately the front porch keep the oranges nice and chilled. What a perfect after-work snack! After I devoured the orange my brain got straight to work on all of the things I could make with these beauties. My first thought was orange chicken- one of my takeout favs. Only problem with this recipe is the ones that I have used in the past are far from low carb. So instead I went to Pinterest to try to find a low carb version and I found it! I am very fond of this blog in general so to find the recipe I was looking for on it, really made my night. Here is the link to the blog I Breathe I'm Hungry and her Orange Chicken Recipe. I did modify a few things to suit what I had on hand so it is not exact. See how I made my version of her amazing recipe below!
I started off with boneless skinless chicken breasts. I cut them into bite size pieces.
I made her dredge of a lil bit of cornstarch and coconut flour.
This was a perfect dredge by the way- I will be using this mixture in place of all purpose flour because that is a common ingredient in a lot of recipes that I have from before we went low carb.
Even though it's a small amount of dredge I still had some left over after I coated all of my chicken.
Then I used vegetable oil in a cast iron skillet and browned all of my chicken pieces. It took me 3 batches to brown it all. Adding a lil more vegetable each time.
Salt and pepper chicken and dredge...
Fry in veggie oil...
Flip when golden!
I followed IBIH's lead and pulsed my sauce ingredients in my Nutribullet!
I used fresh orange juice, fish sauce, soy sauce (I'm pretty sure mine was NOT gluten free), fresh chopped ginger, liquid stevia, water, and because I didn't have orange extract I used orange zest.
If you think you can't find ginger look again because they now carry it at Walmart! I love keeping it in the fridge and lopping off sections as I need it. It really adds a great freshness to dishes like this!
After it has been pulsed I added it to the cast iron skillet I used for the chicken. I did clean the skillet out first with a paper towel to soak up the left over oil.
After cooking down the sauce I added the chicken back in and tossed it around so it was all coated in this glorious orange sauce- which smells amazing! Knowing these oranges were sent with love also makes me smile :)
I cooked the chicken in the reduced sauce for a few minutes then I added in sesame seeds, green onion slices, and cayenne pepper. I don't know how but I ran out of crushed red pepper flakes.. don't tell Jason! He loves them. But don't worry I was able to replenish our stock today without him noticing! ha
Then it is ready to serve! Which is good because I honestly don't think I could have waited a minute longer... eating low carb I never have Chinese food so I've been looking forward to this for way too long! I garnished my plate with extra orange zest, sesame seeds, and green onion.
I served this on top of my fluffy cauliflower rice!
It's so easy! Jason actually said this "rice" was the best I have ever made!
It's hard to look at this picture and not want to make this right now. You have to give this recipe a try.
Thank you IBIH!!!
My Version of IBIH's: Low Carb Orange Chicken - Serves 2 -
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 Cup coconut flour
Salt and Pepper
Vegetable oil- for frying- about 4 Tbsp total
Orange Sauce:
1/4 cup orange juice- I used fresh squeezed
1 1/2 Tbsp ginger, chopped
2 Tbsp fish sauce
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 skant tsp liquid Truvia, add more or less depending on sweetness preference
1 Cup water
2 1/2 Tbsp orange zest, divided
1 Tsp sesame seeds, divided
3 Tbsp green onion, chopped and divided
Cut up chicken into bite size pieces, season with salt and pepper. Combine cornstarch and flour and dredge chicken. Over medium heat add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil to a skillet and brown the chicken in batches. I did 3 batches adding 1 extra tablespoon between each batch. Remove chicken to a platter. Wipe out the skillet. Into a blender or Nutribullet container add in ginger, fish sauce, soy sauce, Truvia, water, and 1 tablespoon of orange zest and pulse for about 45 seconds. Add that mixture into the cleaned out pan and reduce down on medium heat- about 5 minutes. Add the chicken back in and stir to coat. Cook for another 2-3 minutes. Sprinkle on 2 tablespoons of green onions, 1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds and 1 tablespoon of orange zest. Mix together. Serve over my Cauliflower Rice and garnish with remaining green onion, sesame seeds, and zest!
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