Tangy Orange “Chicken” Mushrooms!

I’m the first one to want to take a trip to the Southside to get bomb ass Chinese food from the actual Chinese community here in Chi, but sometimes one must let their inner garbage person flourish. Enter: Orange Chicken that isn’t actually orange chicken, rather orange Lions Mane MUSHROOMS from my boys over at @windycitymushrooms. I grew up ordering the Mandarin chicken from Panda Express, but you can’t ignore the popularity (and dankness) of classic orange chicken. Is it actual Chinese food? Probably not. Does that matter in this case? Probably not 🤘🏼Adam

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Orange "Chicken" Mushrooms

Ingredients

Fried Mushrooms

• 2 Eggs
• Water, as needed
• ½ cup Cornstarch
• ¼ All-Purpose Flour
• 2 pounds Mushrooms, torn to 1x1 inch chunks
• Neutral Oil, as needed
• Black Pepper, to taste
• Kosher Salt, to taste

Orange Sauce

• 3 Oranges
• 3 Tbsp Light Soy Sauce
• ½ cup Sugar
• 2 Tbsp Rice Wine Vinegar
• 1 tsp Toasted Sesame Oil
• ½ cup Water
• 2 Tbsp Cornstarch
• 1 inch knob Ginger, minced
• 2 Garlic cloves, minced
• Kosher Salt, to taste
• Neutral oil, as needed
• Scallions, sliced thin
• Toasted Sesame Seeds

Instructions

Fried Mushrooms

1. Fill a large, heavy pot 3 inches up the sides with neutral oil and preheat it to 300F.
2. Set up two large, shallow bowls next to each other. To one bowl, add cornstarch, flour, a few cracks of black pepper and a large pinch of Kosher salt. In the other bowl, add eggs and a dash of cold water and whisk. The egg wash should be the consistency of heavy cream.
3. In batches, add a handful of mushroom chunks to the flour mixture, then the egg wash, then again into the flour mixture before carefully transferring them to the preheated oil. Fry for 5-6 minutes until slightly golden, then remove using a heatproof utensil to move things around ensuring that they don’t stick together. Repeat with the following mushrooms. Increase the heat to 375. Fry the mushrooms in batches for the second time until deeply golden brown, another 3-4 minutes. Drain on paper towels and allow to cool slightly. Transfer to a large mixing bowl while you make the sauce.

Orange Sauce

1. Using a rasp grater, such as a Microplane, zest one of the oranges and set the zest aside. Slice the 3 oranges in half and juice them into a bowl making sure no seeds fall in, set it aside.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the orange zest, orange juice, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and rice vinegar until the sugar is fully dissolved. Set it aside.
3. Bring a medium saucepan up on medium-high heat. Add in a dash of neutral oil, toss in garlic and ginger and cook for 20 seconds, just until aromatic. Pour the orange juice mixture into the pan and bring to a simmer. Reduce for 2 minutes.
4. In a small bowl, swirl water and cornstarch together to create “slurry” and add it to the pot, the sauce will immediately begin to thicken.
5. Remove the sauce from the heat and pour it over the fried mushrooms. Toss to coat. Serve over white rice and garnish with scallions and sesame seeds and CRUSH!

Adam's Notes

• This works with all sorts of mushrooms, like maitake, king oyster, or trumpet mushrooms.
• Use your hands to tear the mushrooms into irregular pieces to create more nooks, crannies and irregularities which will allow the batter to sneak in and crisp up nicely. Think chicken pieces you find at Chinese buffets here in the States, we want it like that.

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