Restaurant Style Chinese Orange Chicken With Spring Peas - cooking recipe

Ingredients

Orange Sauce
1 cup orange juice (fresh squeezed or Simply Orange brand)
3/8 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon freshly grated orange zest (I use the zest from 1 large orange. Do not use dried zest.)
Chicken
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into bite-sized pieces)
2 egg whites (you can use 1 whole egg but the batter won't be as light)
1 tablespoon water
3/4 cup cornstarch
3/8 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
vegetable oil
Stir-fry
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 -4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon freshly minced ginger
1/4 cup chopped green onion
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or more if you like it hot)
1 cup frozen peas

Preparation

Orange Sauce:
In small bowl, combine orange juice, brown sugar, soy sauce, rice wine, cornstarch and orange zest. Set aside.
Chicken:
In a small bowl, whisk together the egg whites and water. Stir in chicken pieces.
In a pie plate, stir together cornstarch, flour, salt and pepper with a fork or clean whisk.
Taking a few pieces of chicken at a time, dip chicken into the flour mixture.
In a large skillet, add vegetable oil to cover pan to a 1/2-inch depth. Heat skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Brown chicken, a few pieces at a time. Remove chicken and allow to drain on paper-towel lined plate or rack. Continue until all chicken is browned. (Note: You may need to adjust heat up or down to maintain oil temperature as you cook.) Set aside.
Stir-fry:
In a separate skillet or wok, heat 1-2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic and ginger and stir until fragrant (just a few seconds). Stir in green onions, red pepper flakes, and peas.
Add orange sauce and stir until thickened.
Stir in chicken and simmer until evenly coated and heated through.
Serve over steamed rice.