Chinese Chicken with Orange Peel & Red Peppers
Mom setting the table with her Wedgwood Florentine china and a Mulberry platter.
I believe this photo is from an anniversary dinner I threw for Mom & Dad. I made the Chinese Chicken recipe. The guests are longtime Chapel Hill friends Peg & Phil Rees and Linda & Jerry Folda. Note: the dining room border and harpsichord in background are mentioned in previous posts! The painting was done by my Grandmother Volberg.
When I was young - really young - Mom had us pick a color of china to collect. Mom collected Mulberry (kind of purplish black). Elisabeth picked red. I wanted to be different so I asked for green. Mom said that green was really rare and would be hard to find so I went for blue. The plan was for us to get pieces of china for our birthday and Christmas, slowly building a collection that we could actually use when were were adults. My interest in the collection definitely wavered over the years. Sometimes I would be like “oh, great - a gravy boat” (insert eye roll) but other times I would fall in love with something and revel in the pretty details. (This was probably formative, I later did a Decorative Arts program at Sotheby’s.) I remember once attending an auction with my family and there was a large blue and white serving bowl up for sale. I was positively fired up about this piece for some reason! We didn’t walk away with it that day. But, much to my surprise, my parents contacted the dealer who did and arranged to buy it for me. I use this bowl every holiday and it is a cherished possession.
My Grandmother Reed got in on the china action, too. She had a bunch of treasures from her childhood home marked on the back with masking tape (usually just info about where it came from and in some instances the word “VALUABLE”). Occasionally a piece of china would appear in my Christmas haul along with her traditional gift of wrapped wrapping paper. (I love mentioning the wrapping paper! It truly is the most random and, yet, useful gift I’ve received! You always need wrapping paper, right?!)
I’ve mentioned Mom’s insistence on open shelving in her kitchen before. It allowed her to see her cooking supplies while also showcasing her eclectic assortment of housewares. She was always on the lookout for cool things, valuable or not. Some of my favorite pieces to this day are her plastic Russel Wright plates in a wonderful assortment of mid-century colors. One summer we went to Italy and brought back some local ceramics. This was before the days of roller suitcases and Dad was tasked with carrying the heaviest one. Well, he kept forgetting it had plates in it and would dropping on the floor to take a break, prompting Mom to exclaim “Jesus, John!”. (This was her standard phrase when she was not pleased. I remember when we had my daughter Mom remarked that she was worried that her grandkid might think Dad’s name was “Jesus John” due to her exclamations!) Anyway, when we got home from Italy, Mom, being Mom, set up a repair shop and patiently glued the Italian ceramics back together so that they could be included in her collection.
In light of all of this china talk, I thought I would share Mom’s Chinese Chicken recipe today! It’s really delicious and pretty easy to make. When I was a teen, I liked to throw dinner parties for my parents’ anniversary. I’d come up with a menu, cook, and serve it (see the above photo - I think I must be the one on the other side of the camera). One year I made this chicken recipe and it was fab.
CHINESE CHICKEN WITH ORANGE PEEL & RED PEPPERS
Bone-in chicken breast
Sarah’s note: I’d probably make a lot of marinade and adjust to whatever chicken amount I’m using. I’d also probably use boneless breasts because I’m lazy.
Peel of one thin-skinned orange
1 dried red pepper (recipe says 2 but that’s hot)
Marinade:
2 tsps rice wine or dry sherry
2 tsps soy sauce
½ tsp salt (add more if needed later)
1 slice fresh ginger
4-6 green onions
Seasonings:
2 Tbsp fresh orange juice
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
4 Tbsp oil
Bone chicken, cut in bite sized pieces. Mix marinade and add chicken to sit for 20 minutes.
Peel orange and cut up peel. Remove seeds from peppers.
Sliver the ginger and cut up the green onions.
Squeeze 2 Tbsp juice from the orange
Cook:
Heat oil. Add orange peels and stir-fry over high heat until they start to char at the edges. Add pepper. When peppers are black and peels deep brown, remove.
Add chicken to oil and cook til white, then add ginger & onions, peels & peppers. Then add seasonings and cook a few minutes until liquid has thickened and adheres to chicken.
Sprinkle a little sesame oil on top.
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