Crispy Orange Chicken Bowl

(Think Applebees!)

2 # boneless skinless chicken
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp pepper
1 tbsp oil
1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup flour
Oil for frying
1. Cut your chicken into 2 inch pieces and put them into a large bowl Add in the egg, salt, pepper & oil. Mix it well, set aside.
In another bowl, stir the cornstarch & flour together & mix well. Roll the chicken in the flour mixture & coat each piece generously.
2. Pour about a 1/2 inch of oil into a heavy skillet. Fry chicken pieces in small batches for 3-4 min. until brown/crispy. Remove chicken, blotting oil with paper towels. set aside.

Glaze:
1 tsp minced garlic
1 1/2 tsp grated orange rind
1 cup orange juice
1/2 c hoisin sauce
Dash cayenne pepper
1/4 c granulated sugar
Salt & pepper to taste.

Saute the minced garlic for a minute in a bit of oil, ( don't burn!) Add the rest of the ingredients & bring the mixture to a boil, stir for 3 minutes & reduce heat & simmer until a saucy thick glaze is created. Pour the glaze over the chicken.

The other ingredients for the chicken bowl are as follows. (The amounts are totally optional, and depend on the amount that you want to make!
I served my glaze on the side, as I thought it would be better for refrigerated left-overs without the glaze.)
Almond rice pilaf
Mushrooms
Broccoli
Red peppers
Sugar snap peas
Shredded carrots
I also found a bag of shredded stir-fry or salad veggies I added to this.

The recipe is a bit time consuming because of the time it takes to fry the chicken. It works better with two people, or some do-ahead prep!

Here's some steps I did to put it together.
After when my rice was nearly done steaming, I dumped in the sugar peas & bag of shredded veggies to finish, as they needed very little "cooking" time.
Steamed the broccoli in the microwave,
Stir fried the mushrooms, shredded carrots & red peppers together.

Mix all together in large serving bowl & garnish with orange slices.
Top all with toasted almonds & crispy noodles. (I served these two things on the side too)

This got great reviews from my family & guests!