I first posted a version of this Green River Orange Chicken over on Chi Wulff, a fly fishing blog I’m involved with, back in the fall of 2014, after an interesting outing on the Green River in Wyoming with friends and a former chef from Hawaii.
Here’s part of that story –
…Back a few years ago, on one of those three day runs to the Green River I was known to take occasionally with some friends in Salt Lake City, we had a buddy bring along a friend of his wife’s visiting from Hawaii…
…For the life I can’t remember this guy’s name; long story short he had never fly fished but made a game effort and caught some fish (it was Cicada season and for the most part fishing was like shooting fish in a barrel, particularly on the afternoon floats).
The second day I had him in my boat for both the morning and afternoon floats and he began to wear on us a bit given his endless descriptions of ‘how much bigger and faster and beautiful’ the fish were in Hawaii. It wasn’t as bad as a couple of my compadres would have you believe, though by that evening several guys were ready to tie him up, attach all the drift boat anchors in camp and assign him to the not-so-briny deep of Flaming Gorge Reservoir.
His saving grace came in the fact that he had (in another life) worked as a chef and that evening whipped out of couple of big containers what we’ve come to call Green River Orange Chicken that had been marinating in a cooler.
He grilled it over a hardwood charcoal fire as the sun set that evening in camp, with eleven famished guys watching his every move. He grilled it to perfection, taking care to get the skin crispy and golden brown with just a spot of tasty char here and there. While the chicken was grilling he cut up, with a bit of flair as I recall, several pineapples and avocados to serve alongside, grilled of course…
Some might whine about the honey in the marinade; I happen to agree with Mark Sisson that a little bit of honey (or maple syrup) to flavor a marinade isn’t absorbed by the chicken to any significant degree. On the other hand, as our palate has become Primal-aligned, we leave it out and don’t notice a whisper of difference. You make the call.
1/2 cup Grand Marnier (or other orange liqueur)
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
1/3 cup soy sauce / tamari
1/3 cup finely minced ginger
1/3 cup chopped cilantro (basil plays really well here too)
1/4 cup honey
2-3 tbsp Asian garlic chile sauce
1 and 1/2 tbsp. minced fresh orange zest
1 tsp. salt
4 green onions, white and green parts, minced
2 chickens, cut up, rinsed, and patted dry
Combine all ingredients save for the chickens, mix well, and set roughly 1/3 of the marinade in the fridge in a covered container.
Pour the remainder of the marinade over the chickens in either a gallon resealable bag or your favorite flat marinading container; take care to make sure all the chicken is coated, cover, and throw in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours (eight is better).
When you fire the grill, pull the chicken out and let come to room temperature.
Set up to grill over indirect heat (due to the little bit of honey in the marinade) and grill the chicken for about 10-12 minutes per side (varies based on your fire and grill setup), basting if you want to with a bit of the reserved marinade. Pull it when the chicken is done and let rest a couple of minutes.
If you’re not in nutritional ketosis, this is a great place to indulge in a high-quality corn tortilla along with the chicken, a sliced avocado or two, and one of your favorite primal/paleo salsas.
Enjoy.
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