Orange chicken

Origin

The orange chicken found in most North American Chinese restaurants is made from chopped chicken pieces that are battered, fried, and then coated in a sweet orange-flavored chili sauce that thickens or caramelizes into a glaze. Panda Express states that their executive chef, Andy Kao, created the original Chinese-American version of this dish around the time the chain opened its first location outside of California at the Ala Moana Center in Hawaiʻi in 1987. Because the dish is so closely tied to the brand, Panda Express promotes it with a dedicated food truck that travels the country handing out free samples.

Though it is considered Chinese food in North America, orange chicken is rarely seen on menus in China. Andrew Cherng, the founder and owner of Panda Express, has described it as a variation of General Tso’s chicken, another dish that is virtually unknown in China. Journalist Jennifer 8. Lee has noted that both General Tso’s chicken and orange chicken are Americanized versions of sweet and sour dishes from China. The dish has also become mainstream in the United States, appearing in school cafeterias, military base chow halls, and the frozen food aisle of supermarkets.

Jimmy Wang, Panda Express’s executive director of culinary innovation, has called orange chicken one of the most creative dishes of the past thirty years. Across most Western Hemisphere countries, it goes by names like orange chicken, orange peel chicken, orange-flavored chicken, or tangerine chicken. The dish may trace its roots to a tangerine chicken dish from Hunan, China. In Chinese, it is called 陳皮雞, which literally means “dried citrus peel chicken,” referring to dried orange or tangerine peel.

However, the taste and recipes differ due to cultural and geographical factors. The American Chinese version is said to have been inspired by mochiko chicken and similar Hawaiian dishes, initially resembling a chicken wing before being modified. During adaptation, tangerine was replaced with fresh orange peel or omitted entirely. Tangerine is used in both traditional Chinese medicine and cooking.

Tangerine chicken has a fresh, spicy flavor, while orange chicken is sweet and sour. Orange chicken is crispy and served in a sweet, mildly spicy orange sauce. Its sweetness was introduced to appeal to American palates.