Sweet, salty and a little spicy, this Gai Lan with Tangerine Glazed Chicken recipe is a wonderful way to kick off Chinese New Year. Stir-fried chicken is coated with a zesty tangerine sauce and served with steamed Chinese broccoli for an easy 45-minute weeknight meal.
Happy Chinese New Year!!! Since I missed celebrating New Year's in the U.S. I am getting a second chance - the Chinese New Years is this Friday!! And to help me celebrate, the wonderful people at Melissas Produce shipped me a box of beautiful Asian vegetables - and after all the pasta and pizza (and gelato!) I consumed in December, the vegetables were more than welcome! Snow peas, baby bok choy, daikon, long beans, ginger and Gai lan...so much to choose from I had a hard time deciding what to make first! But I decided to go with the gai lan a.k.a. chinese broccoli. So, what's with the tangerines? Well, aside from being an all-around fan of this citrus fruit, tangerines are one of the most common foods associated with Chinese New Year as they represent wealth - and after this trip, I figured I could use all the help I could get in that department! If you've never cooked with gai-lan before, it is tasty - it's definitely stronger than regular broccoli and pairs really well with assertive flavors. Fresh tangerine juice, zest, oyster sauce, and honey are the base of the glaze, Gai Lan with Tangerine Glazed Chicken is what I came up with and I have to say, I am pretty pleased with the results. Sweet, salty and a little spicy, this glaze is terrific on chicken - but would also be great on pork tenderloin or slathered on thinly sliced beef skewers! 
If you've never cooked with gai lan before, it is tasty - it's definitely stronger than regular broccoli and pairs really well with assertive flavors.. like this Tangerine Glazed Chicken.
📖Recipe
Gai lan with Tangerine Glazed Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 lb. Melissa's Produce Gai lan trimmed
- 3 Tbsp. honey
- 2 Tbsp. oyster sauce
- Juice from two tangerines
- zest from one tangerine
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tsp. grated fresh ginger
- 1 tsp. soy sauce
- ¼ tsp. chili garlic sauce
- 2 Tbsp. canola oil
- 8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
- 2 green onions sliced for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- In a medium sized bowl, combine the honey, oyster sauce, tangerine juice and zest, garlic, ginger, soy sauce and chili garlic sauce. Stir to combine and set aside. Slice the green onions, if using, and set aside.
- Fill a shallow saucepan about halfway full of water. Bring to a boil. Add the gai lan and cook until tender - about 3 - 4 minutes. Remove from pan and let drain on a paper towel.
- While the water is heating for the gai lan, heat the canola oil in a cast iron or non stick skillet over medium high heat. When the oil is hot (not smoking) add the chicken thighs and cook until the chicken is golden brown and cooked through - about 6 - 7 minutes.
- When the chicken is cooked, add the honey and oyster sauce mixture and cook until the sauce thickens slightly - enough to coat the chicken in the sauce!
- Divide the gai lan evenly among 4 plates. Top the gai lan with the chicken, dividing evenly. Spoon any extra sauce over the chicken and garnish with the green onions. Serve
Valentina says
This is SOOOO delicious, Nancy! Wishing it was here for me for lunch. Thanks for linking to my bok choy recipe. 🙂
Nancy says
My pleasure Valentina -those bok choy "chips" look addictive!!!
Lana @ Never Enough Thyme says
I am so woefully uneducated about Asian foods, Nancy. It's all so interesting and tasty looking, but I never know where to start with the ingredients. I love this recipe because it's quite simple and focuses on just one "exotic" ingredient. I can do that!
Andy Melton says
I found this by wanting to find a recipe for chicken and gai lan. This was our first experience with gai lan and I am now a fan. Really excellent recipe. I didn't have any tangerine so I substituted oranges. I didn't have canola oil so I used olive oil. The sauce was fantastic but I think next time, I'll have canola oil on hand because I don't think I was able to reduce the sauce enough in the olive oil. My wife has declared this a definite do-over.