Orange chicken

For orange chicken, you will need:

8 chicken thighs, with bone and skin
1 onion, thinly sliced
juice of two 1 orange
1 tbsp grated orange zest
handful of chopped fresh coriander
4 tbsp dark soya sauce
2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1 tsp salt
1 heaped tbsp sugar
2 tbsp white vinegar
1 chicken stock cube
4 tbsp oil
1 tbsp white sesame seeds
water

(serves 4)

In a large wok, boil 700ml water. Lower the chicken thighs into the boiling water and turn off the heat. Remove the thighs after 2 minutes. The reason for doing this is to remove some of the fat and to part-cook the outside of the chicken in order for the seasoning to be absorbed more easily. Discard the water. Put the chicken in a large bowl. Toss in the juice, soya sauce and vinegar and mix well. Let the chicken sit in the juice mixture for an hour.

After an hour, heat the oil in a lidded wok with the garlic. When warm, remove the garlic, add the chicken pieces (reserve the marinade) and fry until the outside is slightly brown. Add the marinade, 250ml water, the stock cube, sugar and salt. Bring back to boil, cover and simmer for 40 minutes, checking from time to time that nothing is sticking to the bottom. Taste to see if more sugar is needed to balance the taste. Stir in the orange zest, transfer to serving dish and sprinkle sesame seeds and coriander on top. Serve with steamed rice.

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