Orange chicken
{{short description|Chinese chicken dish of U.S. origin}}
{{Infobox prepared food
| name = Orange chicken
| image = Flickr preppybyday 4786746354--Orange chicken.jpg
| image_size = 250px
| caption = Orange chicken
| alternate_name =
| country = China (original version)
United States (Chinese-American version)
| region = Hunan (original version)
Various claims (Chinese-American version)
| creator =
| course = Main
| served =
| main_ingredient = Chicken, orange sauce or orange peels
| variations =
| calories =
| other =
}}
Orange chicken is an American Chinese dish of fried chicken in a sweet orange-flavored chili sauce glaze.
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. Chef Andy Kao claims to have developed the original Chinese-American orange chicken recipe at a Panda Express in Hawaii in 1987.{{cite episode |transcript-url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/10/30/560822270/orange-chicken-panda-express-gift-to-american-chinese-food-turns-30 |transcript=(written transcript) |network=NPR |first=Mandalit |last=del Barco |date=October 30, 2017 |series=All Things Considered |url=https://ondemand.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/atc/2017/11/20171101_atc_orange_chicken_panda_express_gift_to_american_chinese_food_turns_30.mp3?orgId=1&topicId=1001&d=234&p=2&story=560822270&siteplayer=true&dl=1 |title=Orange Chicken, Panda Express' Gift To American Chinese Food, Turns 30 (MP3 audio)}}{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/going-out-guide/wp/2015/09/18/is-orange-chicken-a-guilty-pleasure-or-just-plain-guilty/ |title=Is orange chicken a guilty pleasure, or just plain guilty? |newspaper=Washington Post |date=September 18, 2015 |first=Becky |last=Krystal}} Since Panda Express is closely associated with this dish, Panda Express uses orange chicken as a promotion tool by having a dedicated food truck tour the country distributing samples of orange chicken.{{cite news |url=http://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-dd-panda-express-orange-chicken-food-truck-20150805-story.html |title=There's a Panda Express food truck. And it's full of free orange chicken and waffles |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=August 15, 2015 |first=Jenn |last=Harris}}
Orange chicken is called Chinese food in North America, but orange chicken is rarely found in Chinese restaurants in China. Andrew Cherng, owner and founder of Panda Express, said that orange chicken is just a variation of General Tso's chicken, another dish that is almost unknown in China. Journalist Jennifer 8. Lee says that both "General Tso's chicken and Orange Chicken are Americanized mutations of sweet and sour dishes found in China." Orange chicken has also entered the menus of the mainstream U.S. by being served in school cafeterias,{{cite news |url=http://www.denverpost.com/2017/10/23/brighton-school-district-lunch-flavor-stations/ |title=Orange chicken in the school lunch line? You bet, in Brighton |newspaper=Denver Post |date=October 23, 2017 |first=Monte |last=Whaley}} and in military bases' chow halls,{{cite web |url=https://quartermaster.army.mil/jccoe/operations_directorate/quad/Nutrition/IMT_Standardized_28_Day_Menu_July2011.xlsx |title=28 Day Cyclic Menu |publisher=Quartermaster School Joint Culinary Center of Excellence |date=July 2011}} and also found in the supermarket frozen meal aisle.{{cite web |url=https://www.leancuisine.com/products/details/10895 |title=Orange Chicken |publisher=Lean Cuisine}}{{cite web|url=http://www.healthychoice.com/cafe-steamers/sweet-spicy-orange-zest-chicken|title=Sweet & Spicy Orange Zest Chicken|publisher=Healthy Choice|access-date=2017-11-20|archive-date=2022-02-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220228141838/https://www.healthychoice.com/cafe-steamers/sweet-spicy-orange-zest-chicken|url-status=dead}}
Jimmy Wang, executive director of culinary innovation at Panda Express, claims orange chicken is one of the most creative dishes in the past thirty years.{{Cite web|first1=Mandalit|last1=del Barco|title=Orange Chicken, Panda Express' Gift To American Chinese Food, Turns 30|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/10/30/560822270/orange-chicken-panda-express-gift-to-american-chinese-food-turns-30|access-date=2020-11-05|website=NPR.org|language=en}} In most countries in the western hemisphere, the names "orange chicken", "orange peel chicken", "orange-flavored chicken", and "tangerine chicken" are typically used for this particular dish.
This dish may have originally come from the "tangerine chicken" dish from Hunan, China. In Chinese, this dish is known as "陳皮雞", literally "dried citrus peel chicken", referring to dried orange or tangerine peel. However, the taste and recipes of this dish differ due to cultural and geographical factors. In American Chinese restaurants, the use of tangerine was changed to the use of fresh orange peel or no orange at all. Tangerine is used in traditional Chinese medicine as well as cooking. Tangerine chicken tastes fresh and spicy, but orange chicken tastes sweet and sour. Orange chicken is crispy cooked in a sweet and mildly spicy orange sauce.{{Cite web|title=The Original Orange Chicken® {{!}} Entrees {{!}} Panda Express Chinese Restaurant|url=https://www.pandaexpress.com/menu/entrees/orange-chicken|access-date=2020-10-16|website=www.pandaexpress.com}} The sweetness of orange chicken was introduced to cater to American tastes.{{Cite web|title=据说中餐在美国很流行，美国人吃的到底都是啥？|url=http://www.sohu.com/a/208394029_139533|access-date=2020-10-28|website=www.sohu.com|language=en}}
Chinese names
This dish may be known as the following in Sinitic languages:
- chen pi ji ({{zh|first=t|t=陳皮雞|s=陈皮鸡|p=chénpí jī|j=caang2 pei4 gai1|l=chenpi chicken}}), which is inaccurate as it actually refers to the Hunan dish with orange peel
- cheng hua ji ({{zh|first=t|t=橙花雞|s=橙花鸡|p=chénghuā jī|j=caang4 faa1 gai1|l=orange flower chicken}}), an unambiguous term{{cite web |last1=Show |first1=Yule |title=[下廚記 VII]橙花雞 |url=https://www.yuleshow.com/?p=7702 |website=梅璽閣之幸福生活 |date=4 October 2017}}
- cheng zi ji ({{zh|first=t|t=橙子雞|s=橙子鸡|p=chéngzi jī|j=caang4-2 zi1 gai1|l=orange chicken}}), a calque.
Popularity
Orange chicken is the signature dish of the American fast food chain Panda Express, which sells over 100 million pounds of it every year.{{cite news |last1=Vawter |first1=Eve |title=What Really Makes Panda Express' Orange Chicken So Delicious |url=https://www.mashed.com/164245/what-really-makes-panda-express-orange-chicken-so-delicious/ |work=Mashed.com |date=29 August 2019}} In the TV series The Big Bang Theory, the character Sheldon's favorite Chinese food is orange chicken.{{Cite web|last=Pasden|first=John|date=2010-04-14|title=The Big Bang Theory: Sheldon's Chinese|url=https://www.sinosplice.com/life/archives/2010/04/14/the-big-bang-theory-sheldons-chinese|access-date=2020-10-16|website=Sinosplice|language=en-US}}
See also
{{portal|United States|China|Food}}Similar Chinese chicken dishes:{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
- Crispy fried chicken
- General Tso's chicken
- Kung Pao chicken
- Lemon chicken
- List of chicken dishes
- Pineapple chicken
- Sesame chicken
- Sweet and sour chicken
- White cut chicken
{{div col end}}
References
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External links
- {{Commons category-inline|Orange chicken}}
{{Chicken dishes|state=collapsed}}