Orange Glazed Chicken

Today I have eaten a giant cinnamon roll and a soft serve ice cream cone.  It's been a good day.

My brain is still twirling from the sugar.  Every once in a while I need a break from eating fruits and vegetables and just eat junk food. 

I'm leaving on a trip to Iceland tomorrow.  I haven't started to pack, but I have cleaned my laundry.  You have to celebrate small victories.  I have also nervously checked the location of my passport repeatedly.   

My grandmother once bought a ticket to Spain to travel with my aunt and cousins.  At the last moment, she couldn't find her passport and was unable to go.  That is now one of my greatest traveling fears.

I made several alterations to an apricot glazed chicken recipe to make this dish.  I used reduced orange juice instead of apricot jam.  I also added ground ginger, oyster sauce, garlic, siracha, and sugar.  

The ingredients are 6 skinless, boneless chicken thighs, 1 cup chicken broth, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 2 tablespoons corn starch, 2 tablespoons water, 1 1/2 cups orange juice, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1 tablespoon oyster sauce, 1 garlic clove, 1 teaspoon siracha, and 2 tablespoons sugar.

I let the orange juice simmer for 15 minutes.  It reduced down to 1 1/3 cups.  I which I would have let it simmer for another 15 minutes so the sauce would have been thicker.

I added the broth, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and ginger to a skillet.

I added the siracha, sugar, and reduced orange juice.

I added the chicken thighs.  I let the sauce and chicken simmer for 15 minutes.  I flipped and rearranged the chicken every few minutes to make sure it was cooking evenly.

After 15 minutes, I combined the cornstarch and water.

I added the cornstarch slurry to the sauce and cooked it for another five minutes.  I stirred regularly.

After 20 minutes, my chicken was fully cooked.  It wasn't the most visually appealing dish, but the taste left nothing to be desired.  

 It was sweet and savory.  It had subtle Asian flavors.

It wasn't dry.  The sauce had layers of flavors and was creamy and smooth.

The combination of the tangy, sweet orange juice, salty soy sauce and oyster sauce, and savory chicken was mouthwatering.  I would have preferred a tighter sauce, but you win some and you lose some.