Vegan Orange Chicken (Gluten-free option, Chinese-American)

 

You know what I really miss? Seitan. Do you know what I really, really used to dislike? Orange chicken! Let's see how much my opinion will change when we combine them.

But this orange chicken was spicy, sweet, tangy and so simple! It was so complex and so smooth, it bared a slight resemblance to the bright orange sauce you would order at any quick Chinese restaurant, but once you get this awesome sauce in your mouth - there's no going back. It's medium-thick, so you can taste the crispy, nuggety goodness of the seitan without it being over-powered by an overly-saccharine thick sauce.

I didn't have time to actually MAKE the seitan, though...so that's where good Ol' Gardein* comes in. I just ignored the fact that they have a sauce to go with it, because that's how I do.

 *You can use tofu, for a sure-fire GF option!

 

Orange Sauce Ingredients:

1 tsp Minced Garlic

1/2 tsp Ginger

2 Cups Orange Juice

1 tsp Soy Sauce

2 tsp Rice Wine Vinegar

3 tbl (Apple) Honey or Agave Nectar

2 tbl Sriracha

1/2 tsp Garlic Powder

2 tsp Cornstarch + 1-2 tsp cold water (mix)
Sprinkle of Red Pepper Flake
Cracked Black Pepper
The best part of this sauce is that you can start it at any time - even the day before and then you can just warm it up or "bake" it onto the vegan chicken!

Mix all the ingredients except for the cornstarch slurry, and make sure to do a taste test before adding all the hot and sweet stuff!

Whisk it all together, and let it bubble a bit...keep stirring! Faster and faster, and then you can drizzle in the corn starch. Keep stirring until fully incorporated, and then a little bit after. Let it boil and cook down a bit and RESIST adding more!

Let the cool down while you follow the instructions on cooking Gardein's Mandarin Orange Crispy Chick'n. The plot thickens...

Or at least the sauce does! Pour it over your chick'n, slam it on top of rice and you're good to go!