So, I happen to be a fan of Big Bang Theory and came across Sheldon’s dilemma about his tangerine chicken… Now since Teasy is a curious little bat she sniffed around the internet and came up with a recipe I could try with stuff I could find at home since we do not have it here. I kept the sesame oil input low so it could be a lovely low-fat dish for me… It tasted AMAZING so I am sharing it with you guys (and writing it down before I forgot what the heck did I put into it)!!
Ingredients
- Black Peper and Coriander (replacement for Szechwan pepper)
- Cinnamon (totally optional)
- Chinese Five Spices (also totally optional)
- Coconut Milk (still optional and probably fully substitutable with low-fat milk)
- Ginger
- Garlic
- Chicken
- Sesame oil
- White Wine and Apple Vinegar (replacement for Chinese Wine)
- Tangerines (of course!)
- Soy sauce
Method
I started out with the black pepper, coriander, and cinnamon so they can roast nicely while I chopped the garlic and the ginger into really tiny winy pieces. Next step, add the almost minced garlic and ginger of course! Add some tangerine peel too, sliced finely. Stir slightly till the garlic starts to change color and a lovely smell should start to fill your kitchen by now (the black pepper and coriander did smell rather funny – made me sneeze a couple of times!!) Now time to toss the diced chicken in and cook in milk until it gets nice and white while the milk dries out, so don’t overdo it with the milk (milk helps the chicken stay tender and juicy but you can skip the milk altogether if you like or marinate the chicken in milk beforehand). Now time for our frying trick, add a little sesame oil drops and then sizzle with the cider vinegar!! (Yes! Vinegar gives a nice golden fry to the chicken almost as golden as oil would AND it adds more in terms of flavor!) Add the tangerines slowly and stir in, you can add some more cider vinegar here. Lower the heat and add the wine and soy sauce. Reduce the sauce and you’re done!!
Variations
You can add cornflour to thicken the sauce but of course, that would add carbs to your dish. If you like it sweeter you can add some honey or some chilies if you like it hot (but remember we already have the black pepper and the vinegar so keep that in mind!). I added some fennel bulb and some Chinese five spices in the end, the fennel gives a little sweetness to it and well it’s an Asian recipe so I wanted to add some Asian spice!
I served it with noodles and it blended really well! I am sure rice will be just as good. Let us know how it goes if you try it and what variations if any did you try! Remember, no recipe is carved in stone, so measurements are all according to taste.