Tangerine Peel Chicken (Chenpi Chicken)
Sliced chicken breast stir-fried with dried red chiles, ginger and onion, then tossed with soaked dried tangerine peel, fresh tangerine peel and segments in a light sauce of orange juice, lager, soy and a little sugar, with no batter and no deep fryer.
Chenpi is sun-dried mandarin orange peel, aged by storing it dry, and Wikipedia says the best comes from Xinhui in Guangdong, where peel kept more than 20 years can sell for close to 24,000 yuan a kilogram. It tastes slightly sweet at first and then pungent and bitter, and Chinese cooks use it in soups, sweet red bean soup, porridge, duck and tea. Wikipedia's orange chicken article says the American dish "may have originally come from" a tangerine chicken from Hunan, chenpi ji, "dried citrus peel chicken," and that tangerine chicken tastes fresh and spicy where orange chicken tastes sweet and sour.
This version is from Martin Yan, the master chef and television host whose biography on ABC13 credits him with more than 3,000 cooking shows and 30 cookbooks. It uses chenpi and fresh tangerine together: soaked dried peel for depth, fresh peel and segments for brightness, and dried chiles for heat. There is no batter and no frying, which is the point of putting it next to orange chicken: the citrus here is a seasoning, not a glaze.
🇨🇳 The original
Sliced chicken breast stir-fried with dried red chiles, ginger and onion, then tossed with soaked dried tangerine peel, fresh tangerine peel and segments in a light sauce of orange juice, lager, soy and a little sugar, with no batter and no deep fryer.
🇺🇸 The American version
American orange chicken uses fresh orange juice and zest for a sticky, sweet citrus glaze on crispy battered chicken. See the American Orange Chicken recipe.
Why it works the kitchen science
Two kinds of peel
Soaked chenpi brings a deep, slightly bitter, aged citrus flavor, and fresh peel brings sharp, bright oil; together they make the dish taste of tangerine without any sweetness from a glaze.
Fruit at the very end
The segments go in after the sauce boils, so they warm through and hold their shape instead of collapsing into juice.
Step by step
- Step 1
Soak the dried tangerine peel in warm water to cover until softened, about 20 minutes. Drain and cut into narrow strips.
- Step 2
Meanwhile, cut the ends off the tangerines, then cut the peel away in strips from top to bottom, deep enough to take the white pith. Cut the segments out from between the membranes. Trim the pith from half the peel strips and slice them into long, narrow strips. Keep the fruit and peel separate.
- Step 3
Mix the cornstarch, soy sauce and Shaoxing wine in a bowl, add the chicken and stir to coat. Let it stand 10 minutes. Stir the sauce ingredients together until the sugar dissolves.
- Step 4
Heat a wok or stir-fry pan over high heat until hot, add the oil and swirl. Add the onion, chiles and ginger and stir 30 seconds, until fragrant.
- Step 5
Add the chicken and stir-fry 2 to 3 minutes, until it is no longer pink and the thickest slice reads 165°F.
- Step 6
Add the green onions and both kinds of peel and stir-fry about 1 minute, until the green onions soften. Pour in the sauce and bring it to a boil.
- Step 7
Add the tangerine segments and stir to coat. Stir in the cornstarch mixture and cook about 30 seconds, until the sauce boils and thickens. Serve.
Tangerine Peel Chicken (Chenpi Chicken)
Serves 4 · 1 platter · 43 min total
Peel and fruit
- 1 piece dried tangerine peel (chenpi)
- 2 tangerines
Chicken and marinade
- 12 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast, thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
Sauce
- 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
- 3 tbsp lager beer
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
- 1 tsp rice vinegar
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 4 tsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground white pepper
Stir-fry
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1/2 small yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 8 dried red chiles
- One 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and julienned
- 2 green onions, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 2 tsp water
Method
- Soak the dried tangerine peel in warm water to cover until softened, about 20 minutes. Drain and cut into narrow strips.
- Meanwhile, cut the ends off the tangerines, then cut the peel away in strips from top to bottom, deep enough to take the white pith. Cut the segments out from between the membranes. Trim the pith from half the peel strips and slice them into long, narrow strips. Keep the fruit and peel separate.
- Mix the cornstarch, soy sauce and Shaoxing wine in a bowl, add the chicken and stir to coat. Let it stand 10 minutes. Stir the sauce ingredients together until the sugar dissolves.
- Heat a wok or stir-fry pan over high heat until hot, add the oil and swirl. Add the onion, chiles and ginger and stir 30 seconds, until fragrant.
- Add the chicken and stir-fry 2 to 3 minutes, until it is no longer pink and the thickest slice reads 165°F.
- Add the green onions and both kinds of peel and stir-fry about 1 minute, until the green onions soften. Pour in the sauce and bring it to a boil.
- Add the tangerine segments and stir to coat. Stir in the cornstarch mixture and cook about 30 seconds, until the sauce boils and thickens. Serve.
Adapted from Martin Yan, "Tangerine Peel Chicken," as published by ABC13 Houston (archive page, last updated September 30, 2021), 4 servings. We follow it as written: 1 piece dried tangerine peel soaked 20 minutes; 2 tangerines, peeled into strips with the segments cut out; 12 oz chicken breast in a cornstarch, soy and rice wine marinade for 10 minutes; a sauce of orange juice, lager, soy sauce, rice wine, rice vinegar, sesame oil, 4 tsp sugar, salt and white pepper; 30 seconds for the onion, chiles and ginger, about 1 minute for the green onions and peels, and about 30 seconds to thicken. Yan says to cook the chicken until it is no longer pink; the 2 to 3 minutes and the 165°F check are ours. ABC13. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (3)
Tips
- Asian markets sell chenpi in small bags; aged peel is darker and costs more, and Wikipedia says older peel is prized.
- No chenpi? Use the fresh peel of a third tangerine, cut into thin strips with no pith.
- For a Sichuan-style tingle, Charmaine Solomon's tangerine chicken (printed by the Asia Society) adds 1 tsp toasted, crushed Sichuan pepper.
- Keep the sliced chicken thin so it cooks in the same few minutes as the aromatics.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Orange chicken descends from this dish. Disputed: Wikipedia says it "may" come from a Hunan tangerine chicken; Panda Express credits its own chef with inventing orange chicken in 1987 (see American Orange Chicken).
- Chenpi gets better with age. Documented as Wikipedia's account of the market: older peel is "much pricier," and Xinhui peel is considered the best.
- Chenpi is a medicine. Folklore as far as health claims go: Wikipedia lists the uses of Chinese folk medicine (to regulate qi and aid digestion); we make no health claim.
- Tangerine chicken is a Hunan dish. Disputed: Wikipedia places "tangerine chicken" in Hunan; the chenpi trade it relies on is centered in Guangdong, and Martin Yan's recipe names no region.
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