Orange Chicken has always been a favorite favorite (well once I took the plunge and actually tried it that is. lol). Both of my children really enjoy eating it, and in my book, that's always a winner. My favorite place to eat orange chicken is at Panda Express. Unfortunately, the nearest Panda is way too far away to enjoy on a regular basis. So, what do you do, when you live in the "sticks"? You buy it at the grocery store. Yup, that's right, they sell Orange Chicken at the grocery store. Now, you gotta be careful on which one you buy because not all Orange Chicken's are alike. For example. The first store bought Orange chicken I found was in the boxed meal's section at Walmart. It's by a company called Wanchai Ferry. I have to say, this is REALLY good. The sauce is scrumptious. The chicken is lightly coated with a cornstarch mixture, and all in all, I give it 5 stars for flavor and taste. Now, the down side is, you gotta do work to eat it. You have to cut up the chicken and coat it, cook it... etc. you get the idea. it's not a meal that you can make in 30 minutes. It does take preparation. Now if you buy your chicken from like Safeway, or Bashas' or another such supermarket, the butcher will cut up the chicken for you, so that's not. If you shop only at Walmart, well you're going to have to do the work yourself. Now the directions are simple to follow and if you have plenty of time, it's not that hard of a recipe to make. Nutrition wise, 1 serving (1 cup prepared) is 350 calories, fat 8g, carbs 48g, fiber <1g, Protein 3g. If you are doing weight watchers that ends up being 3 points. Not too shabby for dinner. Oh, and 1 final tip: The directions say to cut up 1lb of chicken. Yeah, that doesn't actually make much, so I usually do like 1.5-2lbs of chicken. The rice that comes with it is most definately not enough to feed even a family of 4, so I usually make my own. I have a wonderful microwave rice cooker (I highly recommend!)
Now the next Orange Chicken I've purchased I also bought at Walmart. This one was in the freezer section with the other meals. It was a Great Value package. I was very excited about this one because my sister bought some at Costco that is extremely good. So at $6.00 for a bag (suppose to feed 4) I went ahead and tried it out. I have to say, epic fail. It wasn't "bad" per se, but wasn't great. the orange sauce was ok alone, but not so good on the actual chicken. On flavor and taste, I give it 2 stars. On ease of cooking, it was most definately 5 stars. I put my rice in my cooker (18 minutes). Then I started the chicken. While working on the chicken, I washed some dishes, helped my kids with computer issues, and well, other family and personal issues. The chicken with sauce and everything was actually completed 2 minutes before the rice finished. so in less than 20 minutes, the meal was done. Now if Walmart could just get the taste down... PERFECT!
So, that's my take on Orange Chicken. If anyone has any other suggestions, please let me know. I'd love to try them!
