Cookaholics Bulletin Board

I've been cooking Chinese quite a lot lately and tried out my grandson's favorite, Spicy Orange Chicken. I used 2 T grated orange peel and 1 cup of orange juice, all from naval oranges. The peel was terribly bitter and the juice didn't have a whole lot of flavor at all. I ended up adding about a cup of orange marmalade and it came out pretty tasty.

Question: Any recommendations for the type of orange I should have used?

fitzie

Sounds like maybe you grated the oranges too deeply?

I used my rasp and was careful not to remove too much. We have all kinds of apples these days but only 2 or 3 different kinds of orange. Not counting Halos or Cuties, of course. I thought maybe there was one that's not so bitter.

We buy oranges quite a bit, often plain ol navel oranges, and even with the same kind they vary a lot, I think by wherever they are coming from and possibly how in-season they are. You'll get them one week quite bitter, a few weeks later nice and sweet. Of course, for all I know there are 20 kinds of navel oranges.

Try tangerines or Clementines and see if you like those better. They are the traditional peel to be dried for use in Chinese food, but this has been switched to oranges, since they are cheaper here.