Orange Chicken and Kale Stir-Fry

Prep: 15 mins

Cook: 15 mins

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 4 Servings

Astaple of Chinese-American takeout, orange chicken typically features lightly breaded chicken doused in a sticky-sweet orange sauce. Craving the bright flavors of traditional orange chicken, but not necessarily all the steps, I reimagined the classic recipe as a super-quick (yet more wholesome) weeknight stir-fry.

Ingredients

2 to 3 medium oranges
1/4 cup soy sauce or tamari
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch-wide strips
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons heat-tolerant neutral cooking oil, such as safflower or peanut
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons peeled and grated fresh ginger
2 small dried red chilies, such as Thai chilies
1 bunch lacinato kale, tough inner stems removed and leaves cut into 1-inch strips
2 scallions, thinly sliced
Cooked white or brown rice, for serving

Instructions

Finely zest one of the oranges and place the zest in a small bowl. Juice the orange, and then juice a second orange if needed to have 1/2 cup of juice. Add the juice, soy sauce, and cornstarch to the bowl of zest and whisk together with a fork; set aside.
Segment the third orange and reserve the segments. Sprinkle the chicken on both sides with the salt; set aside.
Set a wok over high heat and heat for 3 minutes. The wok is hot enough when a drop of water bounces off the surface. Working quickly, add the oil, turn pan to coat with oil, and then add the onion, garlic, ginger, and dried chilies. Cook, stirring constantly, until starting to brown, 1 to 2 minutes.
Add the chicken and cook, stirring constantly, until lightly browned and cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the kale. Stir the orange sauce again and add to the wok. Cook until the sauce comes to a boil and thickens. Remove from the heat. Serve over white or brown rice and top with the scallions and reserved orange segments.