Orange chicken
Orange chicken | |
Course | Main |
---|---|
Place of origin |
China (original version) United States (American Chinese version) |
Region or state |
Hunan (original version) North America (American Chinese version) |
Serving temperature | Hot |
Main ingredients | Chicken, orange sauce or orange peels |
Cookbook: Orange Chicken Media: Orange Chicken |
Orange chicken (simplified Chinese: 陈皮鸡; traditional Chinese: 陳皮雞; pinyin: chénpí jī; Wade–Giles: ch'en²-p'i³-chi¹; Jyutping: can4 pei4 gai1) is a Chinese dish of Hunan origin.[1]
Origin
The variety of orange chicken most commonly found at North American Chinese restaurants consists of chopped, battered, and fried chicken 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, it is most often found as a variation of General Tso's chicken in America rather than the dish found in mainland China.
Variations
In most countries in the western hemisphere, the names "orange chicken", "orange chicken peel", "orange flavoured chicken", and "tangerine chicken" are typically used for this particular dish. In Chinese, however, the dish is always known as "陳皮雞", literally "Dried Citrus peel chicken", referring to dried orange or tangerine peel, which is used in traditional Chinese medicine as well as cooking. For restaurants outside of Asia, fresh orange peel is often used instead, or even no peel at all.
See also
References
- ↑ Lo, Eileen Yin-Fei (1999). "Poultry and Other Fowl". The Chinese Kitchen. calligraphy by San Yan Wong (1st ed.). New York, New York: William Morrow and Company. p. 314. ISBN 0-688-15826-9.
ORANGE CHICKEN Chun Pei Gai Pan Traditionally this Hunan recipe contained what is called chun pei, or ‘old skin,’ to describe the dried citrus peel used in its preparation.