Bourbon Street Chicken

A few years ago my husband and I were lucky enough to be exposed to some fine dining at a neighboring city restaurant. It was a high-class Chinese food restaurant (I promise, such a thing DOES exist!), and I ordered the orange chicken. I will never forget that food. It was FANTASTIC, and I think one of the most amazing parts of it was the very VERY lightly breaded chicken. I had never experienced breaded food like this. It was slightly crispy, it held in the chicken's natural tenderness, but it wasn't overpowering. Now fast forward a few years to last week. I was doing my typical THANG online and ran across a recipe that sounded good... So, of course, I tried it. And WHAT DO YA KNOW?! It was lightly breaded chicken! The sauce was fantastic too. So without further ado I will pass it on to you!

The Ingredients:
2 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 Tbs. oil (for frying)
4 Tbs. cornstarch

Sauce
1 garlic clove (minced)
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
1/4 cup apple juice
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoon ketchup
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup soy sauce

The Instructions:
Cut chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces, and lightly dust with cornstarch. I used a gallon ziplock baggie. Just toss chicken and cornstarch together. Heat oil in your wok or frying pan and fry chicken until lightly browned. Drain on paper towels and set aside.

In a separate bowl combine all sauce ingredients (I chose to NOT add the red pepper flakes since my kids are anti-spice... Oh who am I kidding- I don't like spice either). Pour into wok or frying pan and bring to a boil. Add chicken back to the pan, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Serve over rice!

(picture and recipe found and adapted by Mmm... Cafe)