I used to eat Chinese take out all the time for lunch when I worked at the nursery.  There was a local restaurant within walking distance that had a really good deal on lunch specials.  It got to the point that they recognized our work number and we had the lunch specials memorized by number.

Of course, going gluten free makes Chinese take out a little more difficult…

Basically it means that I have to make all my own Chinese if I want to stick to being gluten free.  Or if I eat out, I need to be okay with taking a gluten vacation.  Cooking at home means that I can experiment will all those different flours I picked up on a whim just for funsies.  Ooooooh… flour funsies…

And all that story aside, what really inspired this meal was the movie theme, which was Heaven and Hell (hence the sweet and spicy).  We watched Constantine and Dogma.  The orange chicken was served up with some fried rice, which is pretty easy to make.  Throw some chopped veggies that you like in a pan, scramble an egg with it, toss in the rice and add the soy sauce of your choosing.  It’s totally that easy.  Broccoli on the side is just a good way to round it out.  By the way, Arc’s broccoli intake since I’ve been hanging around the Rumpus Room has increased like 1001%.  Poor guy.

Gluten Free Orange Chicken

Chicken:
3-4 boneless skinless Chicken Breasts
1 Egg
Salt and White Pepper
High Heat Oil
1/2 cup Cornstarch
1/4 cup Rice Flour (you can use white or brown)

Sauce:
1 2″ nub of fresh Ginger Root, peeled and minced
3 cloves Garlic, minced
1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flake
1 bunch Green Onions, chopped
1 TBSP White Wine Vinegar
1.5 TBSP GF Soy Sauce or Liquid Aminos
2 TBSP Sugar or Honey
3-5 TBSP White Vinegar
zest and juice from 1 Orange
1 TBSP Cornstarch
1/4 cup water

Cut your chicken breasts into bite sized pieces and put them in a large bowl.  Add in the egg, salt, white pepper, and 1 tablespoon oil.  Mix that all together.  In a small bowl combine cornstarch and flour.  Add cornstarch and flour to chicken mixture and toss to coat.

Heat the oil for deep frying in a wok or your favorite deep frying pan or device.  Once the oil is hot, add the chicken in small batches.  Fry until golden crisp and cooked through.  Remove from oil and drain on a paper towel lined plate.

Set the hot oil aside in a safe container to cool down and reuse.  Get the wok back on the fire and add a little bit of oil if needed.  Add the ginger and garlic.  Stir-fy until fragrant.  Add the red pepper flake and green onions.  Add the white wine vinegar, soy sauce, sugar or honey, white vinegar, orange juice and zest to the pan.  Make sure everything is heated through.  Add the chicken to the pan and in a bowl combine the water with the reserved tablespoon of cornstarch.  Add the corn starch slurry to the mix and keep on the heat until the sauce is thickened.  Dress with sesame oil.

For an alternative, use yellow onions chopped into larger pieces with some green bell pepper and pineapple chunks.  Yeah, you just make Orange Sweet and Sour Chicken, you fancy person you.

If you want to add more heat, use more red pepper flake and get the chili oil infused sesame oil.  Awwww yeahhhh…