Grammy’s Chinese Style Chicken involves browning flour covered chicken, stir frying fresh vegetables and then cooking the mixture in orange juice with Soya Sauce.
I first had this dish as a teenager. I was working as a playground supervisor that summer and had too much sun that day. I arrived home and my Mom had made a new recipe that she called Chinese Style Chicken Wings. I was very warm and famished and I can still remember how yummy it was. It became a family favourite after that and I continued to make it once I had moved away from home.
These days, I prefer to use the boneless skinless chicken thighs, but wings would certainly fit the bill if you prefer.
Grammy’s Chinese Style Chicken
Print recipe| Serves | 4 |
| Inspiration | Grammy's Recipe |
Ingredients
- 8 - 12 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1/2 Tsp salt
- olive oil and butter for frying
- 1 large onion (large dice)
- 1 1/2 Tsp sugar
- 3 Tbsp low sodium soya sauce
- 1 1/2 Cups sliced mushrooms
- 1 1/2 Cups orange juice
- 2/3 cups chopped celery
- 1 red or green or yellow sweet pepper (sliced in strips and then cut in bite size pieces)
- 1 cup broccoli flowerets or zucchini sliced on the diagonal
Directions
| Mix the flour and salt in a plastic bag and shake the chicken thighs in the mixture. Set aside the chicken and throw out the flour and salt. | |
| Heat oil and butter in a large frying pan on high heat until the butter melts and starts to foam. Add the chicken a few pieces at a time and brown nicely on all sides. Remove to a clean plate as the pieces are browned. Once all the pieces have been browned, add the onion to the frying pan and cook over medium heat until the onion is translucent. Add the browned chicken back to the pan and turn up the heat a bit. Then drizzle the chicken with the soya sauce and sprinkle on the sugar. Stir fry for a few minutes, until golden, being careful because the sugar burns easily. | |
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Add the mushrooms and orange juice to the pan and simmer covered for about 1/2 and hour. Add the rest of the vegetables, 1/2 tsp of salt and a good grinding of pepper. Cover again and cook for about 7 minutes. If the sauce appears too runny, thicken it with a mixture of 1 tbsp of cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp of water.  | |
| Serve with steamed rice. | |
Easy Steamed Rice
| Serves | 2 |
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup uncooked rice (makes 1 cup of cooked rice)
- 1/2 Tsp salt
- 3 - 4 Cups of water or chicken, beef or vegetable broth
Directions
| Bring the water and salt to a rolling boil. Add the rice and stir it to prevent it from sticking to the bottom. Cook the rice in the boiling water for 10 minutes. | |
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Drain the rice into a strainer and then fill the bottom of the saucepan that you just used with about 2 - 3 inches of water. Place the strainer on the saucepan (ensure that the rice is not sitting in water. Cover the strainer and bring the water to a boil (steaming the rice). Cook for at least 20 minutes, but can continue to steam it until it is ready to be eaten. To increase the number of servings, just add more rice to the boiling water and follow the other steps.  | |
| Variation 1 | |
| I will often cook some onions and mushrooms in a small frying pan and add them to to the cooked rice before serving. Sometimes I just add a tablespoon of butter to the rice and stir it in. | |
| Variation 2 | |
| If you would like to cook brown rice, increase the initial cook time in the water from 10 to 14 minutes and then steam it until it is tender. | |
| Variation 3 | |
| Cook the rice in chicken, beef or vegetable broth instead of water for the first 10 minutes and then steam over water as described above. | |