Being stuck in airports makes you do unusual things. Not wanting to sit for long, I wander the terminal with my carry-on in tow, perusing kiosks, cafes, bars, and bookshops. Recently, when I was at SFO waiting to board a flight to Mexico City, I began paging through Snoop Dogg’s debut cookbook, From Crook to Cook: Platinum Recipes from Tha Boss Dogg's Kitchen (Chronicle Books, 2018).
It’s not the kind of cookbook that I usually come across or automatically think about, but Snoop Dogg’s orange chicken recipe gave me a lot to consider. After I made it, it gave me a lot to chew on too.
Cross-Cultural Chicken
If you’re unfamiliar with Snoop Dogg (born Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr.), he’s a renowned rapper and music producer, plus a lifestyle tastemaker who has done shows with Martha Stewart. His cookbook is full of swagger but it’s also funny, charming, and smart. Snoop Dogg’s orange chicken recipe carries this introduction:
You know, here in L.A., there’s always the hood Chinese places. We grew up with it. They got fried chicken and Chinese food all in the same spot. Like Louisiana chicken on the left side and Chinese food on the right side. Now I just love orange chicken from different Chinese food spots around the world. I always be asking them about the ingredients so I can put my own spin on it at home.
Snoop is spot on. He describes Los Angeles strip malls and race relations in a short paragraph. When I went to school at the University of Southern California, I worked for Michael Preston, a black political scientist. He regularly sent me to buy him a Chinese takeout two-combo plate lunch. He appreciated Chinese food and southern cooking (he was raised in Tyler, Texas). I was reminded of Dr. Preston when I read Snoop's commentary.
Accessible Ingredients
From Crook to Cook has fancy recipes like lobster Thermidor but most recipes are homey and very doable. With the orange chicken recipe, the orange sauce used easy-to-find ingredients, so I was curious how it would turn out. For the sauce, I used freshly squeeze orange juice, but figure his juice was likely not fresh squeezed since in the front part of the book, Snoop discussed healthy eating and keeping a jug of O.J. in his fridge.
Not knowing the source of the juice used to develop the recipe, I tasted the sauce after simmering and added a little extra honey to balance things out. I also steeped a couple strips of orange peel to introduce a slightly bitter edge to the sauce, to mimic the dried tangerine peel that I like in old school tangerine chicken or beef.
The sauce should only slightly thicken during simmering because it will later reduce and be absorbed by the chicken. After the sauce sat to cool, the flavors coalesced into something quite good and complex, despite its humble beginnings.
Straightforward Instructions
Snoop Dogg’s orange chicken recipe is written for people who are new to cooking, so there are nice little details that help cooking newbies be organized. For example, there are details on how to dredge the chicken to facilitate quick prep work.
He suggests using a spider for lifting the wet chicken from the egg with minimal mess. The recipe also says to serve the chicken with rice, in case it's a new dish at your table. Good pointers.
Shallow Fried Chicken
The original recipe calledfor 2 pounds of chicken thighs to serve 4 people. Once I cut up a pound of thechicken, it yielded a lot, and we’re not big meat eaters. Given that, I fried agenerous half batch of chicken but kept the sauce quantity the same, to hedgeon flavors.
The smaller amount of chicken was easier to shallow-fry in a large (12-inch) skillet. If you fry 2 pounds of chicken, you may want to fry in 2 batches.
At first bite, the chicken was a little edgy tasting. But once I let it sit for a few minutes, the flavors melded nicely. (Resting time is a cooking technique.)
The cornstarch coating is delicate on this chicken, not thick and rock hard. The sauce is not goopy and thick because it gently cloaks the chicken pieces. Snoop Dogg’s orange chicken recipe turns out a rather refined version of the fast-casual Chinese favorite.
If you like lots of big flavor, use all the sauce on the chicken. But to savor the Snoop's flavor profile, start out with a little less sauce in step 5 of the recipe, as I suggest below. You can always add more for extra bite.
There are many interesting ideas in From Crook to Cook, including adding potato chips to batter for fried chicken, making corn muffins with a touch of sour cream, roasting salmon coated in honey mustard for a sheet pan dinner, whipping up banana pudding with rum whipped cream, and stirring together a mess of bow wow brownies (his best recipe, he says, especially with some special herbs involved). The Doggfather’s commentary is endearing as he coaches, jokes, shames, and pushes people into their kitchens to cook. That’s music to my ears.
Related recipes
- Old-school Sweet and Sour Pork
- Air-fried Sweet and Sour Pork (you could borrow from this recipe to air fry the chicken!)
- Instant Pot Sweet and Sour Pork
P.S. In case you missed this
Not only did the New York Times include Vietnamese Food Any Day in its best Spring 2019 cookbooks list, it also selected the book for its summer reading/cooking list. I'm thrilled, stunned, excited -- everything. Thank you so much for all the great reviews, pictures, and support!
Orange Chicken over Rice
If you’re using fresh squeezed juice, consider adding a 2 strips of orange peel to the sauce. After simmering, take the pan off the heat then drop in the peel and let sit for 10 minutes then remove and discard the peel. A vegetable peeler is great for removing the peel from the orange; scrub the orange first to remove wax! If you want to follow the original recipe, use 2 pounds of chicken, 2 eggs, and 1 ½ cups of cornstarch. Keep everything else the same. See the Note for serving over broccoli. The recipe below was adapted from From Crook to Cook by Snoop Dogg (Chronicle Books, 2018).
Prep Time10 minutes mins
Cook Time30 minutes mins
Servings: 4
Ingredients
FOR THE ORANGE SAUCE:
- ¾ cup orange juice
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoons sriracha
- 1 tablespoon honey plus more as needed
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
FOR THE CHICKEN:
- 1 large egg
- ¾ cup cornstarch
- 1 ¼ pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts cut into 1-inch pieces
- ½ cup canola or other neutral oil
- Salt
- 2 tsp sesame seeds for garnish (optional)
- 1 green onion green parts only, sliced, for garnish
- Cooked white rice for serving
Instructions
TO MAKE THE ORANGE SAUCE:
In a small saucepan over medium heat, whisk the orange juice, soy sauce, Sriracha, honey, sesame oil, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a sim¬mer and cook for 6 to 7 min¬utes until slightly thickened (it should lightly coat the back of a spoon). Remove from the heat and set aside, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Taste and if needed to balance flavors, stir in up to 1 ½ teaspoons honey. You should have about ⅔ cup.
TO MAKE THE CHICKEN:
In a large bowl, whisk the egg until blended. Place a large bowl next to the egg and put the cornstarch into it.
Add the chicken to the bowl with the beaten egg and toss to coat. Using a spider or large slotted spoon, lift the chicken from the egg and let any excess drip back into the bowl. Toss the chicken in the cornstarch to coat, shake off any excess cornstarch, and set aside.
Line a plate or baking sheet with two layers of paper towels and set aside. In a large (12-incskillet over medium-high heat, heat the canola oil. There should be plenty to cover the bottom completely.
When the skillet is hot, carefully add the chicken to the hot oil. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, or until golden and crispy. Transfer the chicken to the prepared plate and lightly season with salt. Drain any excess oil and wipe the pan with a paper towel.
Reheat the skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken, gently cook to reheat. Increase the heat to high, then pour ½ cup of orange sauce over the chicken. Stir to coat. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes to heat the sauce through, reduce it and let it adhere to the chicken. If you want more sauce for bigger flavor, add the rest. (If there’s leftover sauce, use it to season a broccoli stir-fry. See the Note.)
Transfer the chicken to a plate and garnish with sesame seeds and green onion. Serve with cooked white rice.
Notes
To serve the chicken over broccoli, cook about 3 cups of broccoli florets (cut into bite-size pieces). Use a pot of boiling water and let the broccoli cook for about 30 seconds, until tender crisp. Let drain well. Before reheat the chicken, heat the skillet over high heat and add the broccoli. Stir-fry it until hot, 1 minute, then add 2 tablespoons of the orange sauce. Let it sizzle and season the broccoli as it finishes cooking. There should be little liquid remaining. Arrange flat on a plate. Reheat the skillet and finish the chicken (step 5) with the sauce. Pile the chicken on top of the broccoli, garnish with the green onion and sesame seeds then serve.
