Orange Chicken in the Slow Cooker

Last night I started my Sacral/Second Chakra meditation which pretty much inspired this fiery orange chicken dish. Chinese food is my husbands favorite food, but I never know what I am actually eating when I go to a restaurant. Orange chicken being his favorite, I decided to fool around with what I had in the fridge, referenced a few online recipes and made something pretty darn magical. A lot of online recipes had katchup, or frozen orange juice concentrate, and even orange soda! Well those items are never in my fridge so I rerouted and did a round-up of the following items;



1 cup Orange juice -


freshest you can find, I like pulp but one complaint was it could turn sour after cooking.



1 tbs Orange Marmalade -

probably the worst ingredient, but I found this one that is whiskey based and let me tell you... YUM.



1 tbs honey -

I just wanted something sweet with more stick to it. *Find some local honey bees*



1/4 cup Sarachi/Chilli Sauce/Cock Sauce - which is fun to ask for at any store.



1/4 cup Tamari/Soy Sauce - I just think Tamari tastes better.



1 or two or three cloves of garlic. I like garlic a lot so I use a lot. This time I only needed one because it was a monster in size.



grate a good amount of ginger. My best guess is a teaspoon. If its fresh you dont need much but if you only have the powder you may need a whole table spoon. My suggestion is always have a root stalk in your freezer. Ginger is always good for teas and any foods you make when you are sick. Ginger is your best friend when you have an upset stomach from too much stress.*end tangent*



Mixed those all together and let them mingle in the slow cooker on high while you bread the chicken. If it starts to boil rapidly, turn it down to warm.



I prefer fresh chicken if I'm going to use it but I only had the frozen, about 11 tenderloins. It produced about 2 cups of chicken after cubing it.



I am still experimenting at breading but I think I may have just made the most delicious Dredge. A lot of people will use eggwhites which is a tried and true method. But whats the fun in tried and true. Today I experimented with a vegan friendly method so you dont actually have to use chicken or meat to make this dish.



Dredge:



1 tbs orange juice

1 tbs coconut oil

2 tbs honey

a tiny squirt of seracha.



Heat that up until the oil is melted and everything can mix together. Just taste that. You're welcome. Now let's see if it works and will hold flour to the chicken... YES!



You could just put a 1/2 cup of flour in a bowl or you could add a pinch of cayene and paprika. Oh I went there.



Now dip the chicken in the dredge and then into the flour. Success! Did it work for you?



You can either fry it in oil or bake it. I usually fry so this time I decided to bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Then Ill flip them and cooked until golden brown, about 20 minutes.



Once the chicken is golden brown I add it to the slow cooker. Make sure the slow cooker is back to low and your sauce is thickening, its ok if it is still very runny. You may want to taste it at this point to see if its too sweet or too spicy and adjust to your liking. It is always easier to add more spice then it is to take it away so be warned. I always seem to make everything too spicy so if you are making this for kids you may want to cut the saracha in half or all the way.



I will update this once I have photos of the finished product and rate it accordingly.
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