Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Sophie hates anise, but loves oranges

Sophie turned me on to a variation of this recipe.  With her strong dislike of anise, she substituted fresh orange rind instead of anise and made me a delicious orange chicken.  She served it over rice and added additional toppings including chopped peanuts, chopped green onions, and cilantro.

I later tried to recreate the chicken dish and on both occasions managed to deviate even further from the original recipe like a game of telephone.  To be fair though, I never read the original recipe and mainly worked from a vague recollection of Sophie's orange chicken affair.

The first attempt led to a very saucy version of the orange chicken Sophie made.  This time, I served  it over wild rice with vegetables and salad.  It was nice to cut the chicken and toss the rice and vegetables in the extra sauce.  The leftovers tasted like a tasty orange chicken salad. In my second attempt, I omitted the flavor additions entirely and I ended up (by accident) making teriyaki chicken which I ate with a side salad and mashed sweet potatoes.  This time there was less sauce and it more tasted like a chicken smothered in a savory brown reduction sauce.

I recommend looking at this recipe as either a recipe to follow or  a guide to the endless possibilities of sugar, tamari sauce, and chicken.

No comments:

Post a Comment