"Better Than the School's" Asian Chicken

For some reason, whenever I make this, Charlotte has usually had something similar to it at school for lunch. Now, I have been to every parent and grandparent lunch at Charlotte's school for the past 6 years, and there is no seasoning on anything that comes out of the cafeteria whatsoever! Asian chicken is Charlotte's favorite school lunch, so imagine my delight when one day she told me, "Yours is better than the school's!"

Ingredients:

1/3 Cup Warm Water

1/4 Cup Brown Sugar

2 Tbsp Orange Juice

2 Tbsp Soy Sauce

2 Tbsp Ketchup

1 Tbsp White Vinegar

4 Cloves Garlic

1/2 tsp Crushed Red Pepper

1/4 tsp Chinese Five-Spice Powder

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 1/2 lbs Chicken, cubed

2 tsp Cornstarch

2 Tbsp Cold Water

1. In a bowl, mix the first set of ingredients together to make the sauce.
2. Heat olive oil over medium heat. Cook and stir chicken for 10-12 minutes. Pour sauce over chicken, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes.
3. Toward the end of the 30 minutes, add the cornstarch and water to thicken the sauce.
4. Serve over cooked rice.