Skip to content

Our 2024 Print Your Own Calendar is now on sale! Buy now!

I’m a fast foodie – like, a foodie, but with food courts. I’d love to go with all my friends to a food court that’s also a buffet – with unlimited orange chicken from Panda Express… I’m a simple man with simple pleasures.

Tyler Oakley

Orange chicken is one of our favorite indulgences, a delicious blend of chicken, ginger, garlic, and sesame oil drenched in a delicious orange sauce. We know that it is almost the perfect Asian food, and that’s why we weren’t at all surprised to find it had a holiday of its very own, National Orange Chicken Day!

Learn about National Orange Chicken Day

National Orange Chicken Day has been designed to celebrate the delicious Chinese dish that is now enjoyed all around the world. If you are a fan of Orange Chicken, you have the perfect excuse to indulge on it on this day – not that you need one!

If you have never had Orange Chicken before, you are seriously missing out, and you should definitely use National Orange Chicken Day to try this delicious dish. The dish is made with boneless and skinless chicken breast, which is cut into smaller pieces, dredged, and then fried until it is lovely and crispy and golden in color. It is then covered in a sweet and sticky orange sauce, which tastes delicious.

There are many different variations of the sauce, but it typically includes orange zest and orange juice, as well as red chili flakes, ginger, soy sauce, sugar, garlic, and vinegar. If you take a look online, you will see that there are many different recipes for Chinese Ora nge Chicken. Some people prefer to use skinless chicken thighs, for example. The choice is yours. Nevertheless, referring to an authentic Chinese recipe is always going to harvest the best results!

History Of National Orange Chicken Day

Orange chicken is a common sight at many North American Chinese restaurants and is a common favorite of patrons. Starting with a foundation of chicken that’s been battered and fried before being tossed in an orange-flavored chili sauce it’s then fried, letting the sauce thicken to a glaze. It was an immensely popular dish in China during the Hunan era and continued to be popular straight into the modern day. There was one period in the past, however, when the orange chicken wasn’t actually made from chicken.

During the 1600’s there was a plague that crossed through northern China and killed off large portions of the chicken population. Out of desperation (and a love of orange chicken), the people there had to find new meats to use in their orange chicken dish. Beef was the most common, but just about any form of meat could be used to make this coveted dish. Of course, the people in southern China had no trouble at all, as their chickens were unaffected.

How to celebrate National Orange Chicken Day

The best way to celebrate National Orange Chicken Day is to head out into the world, find your favorite Chinese restaurant, and order up a big dish of orange chicken. They tend to serve large portions, however, so why not bring a few friends with you to help demolish the dish?

If you’re feeling truly adventurous you can try to make your own dish of orange chicken. There are a few places you can find a recipe, and if you’re fortunate a relative who’s been making it for years will be your best source. Don’t forget to get a heaping side of rice to go with it, and spring rolls have always gone well with it! Indulge yourself, there’s little in the world as wonderful as this dish!

If you have made Orange Chicken before, or you are feeling confident, the best thing to do is invite some friends and family members around and they can try your delicious take on this famous Chinese meal.

Why not have your own Chinese feast night? You can cook up some other Chinese favorites, or ask everyone who is attending to bring a Chinese-inspired dish with them. Good food and good company, it does not get better than that, right?

You can also spend the day brushing up on your Chinese cooking skills. Of course, Orange Chicken is just one of the many amazing and delicious dishes that China has blessed us with.

There are so many others. Spend the day trying out different meals and Chinese snacks and desserts. We are sure that the people that you live with are going to thank you for it. If you live alone, you can always freeze some of the dishes, or simply give your neighbors a nice surprise!

To help you out with your Chinese feast, we are going to give you some basic Chinese cooking tips! It is important to use the freshest ingredients and it always helps to have everything prepared before you start cooking. Investing in Chinese cooking equipment also makes a lot of sense.

The best piece of Chinese cooking equipment that you can purchase is a wok. While it is not a necessity, it is certainly a lot of fun to cook with it and you will really feel like you are making authentic Chinese dishes. A lot of Chinese cooking is going to involve stir-frying vegetables, and there is an art to this! You need to make sure you stir-fry your vegetables in the right order.

This means that the thickest and toughest vegetables need to go into the pan first. If you throw in everything together, you’re going to end up with some vegetables overcooked and some undercooked. For example, carrots need to be in the pan way before you put any bok choy in.

Also on ...

View all holidays
View all holidays

We think you may also like...