Faygo Orange Chicken

Name: Faygo Orange Chicken
Yield: 10
Cuisine: American

RECIPE: Reprinted with permission from Kung Food: Chinese American Recipes from a Third-Culture Kitchen by Jon Kung © 2023. Photographs © 2023 by Johnny Miller. Published
by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

Photo: Johnny Miller

October 20, 2023

In his new book Kung Food (available October 31), author and TikTok phenom Jon Kung reimagines Chinese American food, such as Panda Express’ orange chicken. For his Faygo Orange Chicken, he brings the beloved dish back to its chen pi ji (orange peel chicken) Hunanese roots, which flavors the chicken with orange peel and chilis. But as a nod to the original American dish, Faygo soda from Detroit is used in the orange sauce. “I wanted to bring it back to its origin story a little bit but respect the fact that—while this dish has relatives in China—orange chicken is an American icon, which is something I wanted to lean into,” writes Kung.

Ingredients

Yield:4-6

Chicken and marinade
6 pieces dried tangerine peel, chopped
1/4 cup Shaoxing wine
2 Tbsp. light soy sauce
1 Tbsp. ras el hanout
2 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. MSG
2 tsp. kosher salt
2 tsp. freshly ground white pepper
2 lb. boneless skin-on chicken thighs, cut into roughly 1-inch cubes
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Orange sauce
3 (12-oz.) cans orange Faygo or other orange soda
2 Tbsp. Chinese red vinegar
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp. sweet paprika
2 tsp. ground turmeric
3 star anise pods
2 black cardamom pods, cracked
4 pieces cup dried orange or tangerine peel, ground or minced
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Neutral oil
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups potato starch
Kosher salt
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Serving
2 Tbsp. neutral oil
4 garlic cloves, grated
2 thumb-size pieces fresh ginger, peeled and minced or grated
2 to 4 dried Szechuan chilies, chopped
5 whole chilies (optional)
2 Tbsp. Szechuan peppercorns
1 Tbsp. dark soy sauce
2 Tbsp. Shaoxing wine
Steamed rice, for serving

Preparation

Marinate the ChickenPlace the tangerine peel in a spice grinder and pulverize it to a powder. You should end up with 2 teaspoons—put it in a large bowl with the wine, soy sauce, ras el hanout, cumin, MSG, salt, and white pepper and mix until well combined. Add the chicken and toss to evenly coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 12 hours.

Orange SauceIn a medium saucepan, combine the Faygo, vinegar, sugar, paprika, turmeric, star anise, cardamom, and orange peel. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium and cook until the sauce is thick and syrupy but still pourable, about 30 minutes, depending on the strength of your burner and the size and shape of your saucepan. Set the sauce aside. (The sauce can be cooled and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.)

Fry the ChickenFill a wok or Dutch oven with oil to a depth of 3 inches and heat the oil over medium-high heat to 350°F. Set a large wire rack nearby.

Combine the flour, potato starch, and 1 teaspoon salt in a large bowl.
Working in batches, toss the chicken pieces in the flour mixture to coat well, then carefully add them to the hot oil (don’t overcrowd the pot). Adjust the heat to maintain a temperature between 350° and 375°F and cook just until the chicken is very light golden brown, about 3 minutes (it won’t be cooked through). Use a slotted spoon or spider to transfer the chicken to the rack to drain. Repeat with the remaining chicken pieces.

Again, working in batches, return the parcooked chicken to the hot oil and fry for 2 to 3 minutes, until it becomes a deeper golden brown—at this point, it’ll be cooked through. Transfer the fully cooked chicken back to the rack to drain, and season with salt before it fully dries. Repeat with the remaining parcooked pieces.

To serve, once the chicken is cooked, heat a wok or very large sauté
pan over medium heat. Add the oil, garlic, ginger, chopped chilies, whole chilies (if using), and Szechuan peppercorns and stir for only about 10 seconds before adding the dark soy sauce and the wine. Stir in the orange sauce and heat until it is thick and bubbling, about 5 minutes, then add the fried chicken and toss to evenly coat with the sauce. Serve immediately with rice.