Mandarin oranges are in abundance at home after the Chinese New Year holiday, so if you have 2 medium ones to spare, they make great base for a sweet and sour sauce.  Team it with fried pork, chicken, fish fillet, or even firm tofu.  I had some leftover fried chicken fillet that I diced up to make Mandarin Orange Chicken.

To make mandarin orange sauce, let’s make the jam in a quick and easy way first.  This jam will replace the tomato ketchup used in a sweet and sour sauce.

I only use the orange pulp removed from the membrane for this recipe and discard the pith, seeds and peel, which are otherwise important if making mandarin orange marmalade, a different process altogether.

First remove the peel, pith and seeds from two mandarin oranges, and place the roughly chopped orange pulp in a small pot.

Stir and cook over medium fire, for about 5 minutes to let most of the liquid evaporates, at the same time pressing juices out from the pulp with the back of the spoon.

After most of the liquid has evaporated, turn off the fire and let the jam cools slightly, ready to be used.

MANDARIN ORANGE CHICKEN
INGREDIENTS

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4-6 strips of fried chicken fillet, diced
1 tablespoon oil
1 clove garlic, minced
Mandarin orange jam made from 2 oranges
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoon of water
2 teaspoon sugar
Dash of pepper
Garnish : chopped scallions, sesame seeds

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METHOD

01. Mix together orange jam, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, worcestershire sauce and water in a bowl and set aside.

02. In a heated wok, fry garlic in oil till fragrant.

03. Pour in the sauce from step 1, and cook till it boils.

04. Add sugar and a dash of pepper to the boiling sauce.

05. Add diced cooked chicken, and stir around to coat with sauce.

06. Transfer to place, garnish with scallions and sesame seeds, serve immediately