Panda's Orange Chicken

I'm finally back to reality after being on vacation for almost 3 weeks. It was so nice having a break from all the cooking and cleaning, but you can only eat so much restraunt food before you start craving good old home cooked recipes. I got this recipe from my friend Mandy, and although it does take a little bit longer, it is soooo worth it! So don't be intimidated and give it a try, I promise you won't be disappointed.

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 (I confess I'm not a loyal marinader. I don't usually think about dinner at 10:00 in the morning, so I end up just letting it sit in the fridge while I get the other ingredients prepared and it turns out fine). 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. *(for my picky eater, I don't put sauce on his chicken and they make great chicken nuggets)