Panda's Orange Chicken

2-3 chicken breasts Sauce/Marinade:
1 ½ C water
2 Tbs. orange juice (not concentrate)
1 C packed brown sugar
1/3 C rice vinegar
2 ½ Tbsp soy sauce
¼ C lemon juice
½ tsp ginger
1 stalk green onion, chopped (about 1 Tbs)
¼ tsp red pepper flakes

Combine all of the ingredients in a saucepan over high heat. Stir often while bringing mixture to a boil. When sauce reaches a boil, remove it from the heat and allow it to cool, uncovered. Slice the chicken in to bite-size chunks. Remove exactly one cup of the sauce from the pan and pour it over the chicken in a large resealable bag and marinate for several hours. Cover and refrigerate remaining sauce.

¼ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
2 ½ C flour
9 tsp. corn starch
4 chicken breasts
1 C ice water
1 egg

When chicken has marinated, preheat 2 in. of vegetable oil in a large skillet. Dissolve cornstarch in 3 Tbs water and add to reserved sauce then cook over high heat. When it has thickened, cover and remove from heat. Beat together the ice water and egg in a med. bowl. Add baking soda and salt. Add 1 C flour and stir with a fork until the flour is blended (the batter should be lumpy) Put the remaining 1 ¼ C flour into another bowl. Dip each piece of chicken into the flour, then into the batter. Let some of the batter drip off and then place in oil and fry for 4-5 min.(turning once) or until golden brown. Place cooked chicken in dish and toss with sauce then serve over rice.

**In order to lighten this up, I skipped the breading and frying. I marinated the chicken and then cooked it in a non-stick pan and then tossed it with the sauce. I also used brown rice.