Lemon and chicken go together perfectly in this old favorite, Chinese Lemon Chicken. Instead of reaching for the Chinese takeout menu, give this recipe a go. It’s light on the chicken batter coating but has a deliciously silky texture with a fantastic lemon flavor.
Chinese Lemon Chicken
When it comes to chicken from Chinese restaurants, they always make chicken breast soft, succulent, and full of flavor. Most of us make it tough and flavorless!
With this recipe, you too can easily make wonderfully soft and succulent chicken breast right in your home without any special ingredients or tools.
Ingredients
- 3 lbs chicken breast cut into 1/2” thick sized strips
- 1 red pepper sliced
- 1 green pepper sliced
- 3 stalks scallion sliced
Chicken marination
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp water
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Dredging
- 6 tbsp cornstarch
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
Sauce
- 3 tbsp white sugar
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 6 tbsp chicken stock
- 1/2 tsp table salt
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 33.8 floz vegetable oil for deep frying
Instructions
Chicken marination:
- Marinade chicken: Mix all Chicken Marination ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Add the chicken breast into the marinade, massage well for a minute and set aside for at least 10 minutes but preferably 1 hour.
Dredging:
- Dredge the chicken: Mix Dredging ingredients into a new mixing bowl and mix well. Coat each chicken strip well, shake off excess flour, place on a plate, and set aside.
Lemon sauce:
- Mix sauce ingredients: In a mixing bowl add white sugar, lemon juice, chicken broth, table salt, cornstarch and sesame oil, whisk then set aside.
Shallow frying the chicken:
- Heat oil: Place frying pan over medium heat, pour in enough cooking oil to cover the chicken.
- Batches: Fry all of the chicken strips in batches until light golden, then set aside on a rack to allow any excess oil to drip off.
Stir-fry:
- Heat a wok: In a hot wok over high heat, add small amount of cooking oil. Start frying the pepper and scallions.
- Return the fried chicken strips to the wok and stir quickly.
- Lemon sauce: Pour in the sauce mixture and stir very quickly to ensure the chicken is all coated well, keep stirring for a minute or two. Don't stop stirring, lower the heat and stir for another 30 seconds and it is done.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serve | Calories: 572kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 75g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.04g | Cholesterol: 267mg | Sodium: 1193mg | Potassium: 1432mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 1300IU | Vitamin C: 72mg | Calcium: 39mg | Iron: 2mg
What you will need for Chinese Lemon Chicken
- Chicken breast: Breast is superior to thigh for this recipe. You could use tenderloin if that’s your preference.
- Salt: Yes, no surprise, this recipe needs salt; use whichever type you prefer. We used regular table salt.
- Olive Oil: Canola oil or any mildly flavored oil can be used.
- Soy sauce: Soy sauce is excellent for adding umami flavor to the meat. Use good quality soy sauce.
- Cornstarch: Used in the marinade, dredging, and lemon sauce.
- Egg yolk: We used the yolk from one large-sized free-range egg.
- Black pepper: Freshly ground black pepper should be used if you have it. Otherwise, the powdered kind can be substituted.
- All-purpose flour: Plain or all-purpose flour can be used for this recipe.
- White sugar: Just regular granulated sugar is used here.
- Lemon juice: Fresh lemons are best; you can also reserve some slices as a garnish.
- Chicken stock: Feel free to use the pre-made stock.
- Sesame oil: Careful with this one; its strong flavor can quickly overpower the dish.
- Vegetable oil: This can be any cooking oil you prefer for frying.
- Vegetables: We used scallions, but Green or Red Pepper is also suitable in this recipe.
How to make Chinese Lemon Chicken
- Slice chicken: Cut the chicken breast up into 1/2″ thick-sized strips.
- Marinade Ingredients: Add the marinade ingredients to a large mixing bowl.
- Mix marinade: Whisk the marinade together, ensuring its smooth consistency.
- Coat chicken: Place the chicken breast into the marinade and coat evenly.
- Lemon sauce: In a mixing bowl, add the ingredients for the lemon sauce.
- Mix sauce: Using a whisk, combine the sauce ingredients.
- Dredging ingredients: In another bowl, add the dredging ingredients together.
- Flour the chicken: Dip the marinated chicken pieces into the flour. Make sure each piece gets coated evenly.
- Prepare veg: You can prepare the veg either at the start or now, just as long as it’s before when the wok is ready to cook.
- Heat oil: Over medium heat, warm the cooking oil.
- Fry: Once the oil reaches cooking temperature, start cooking the chicken in small batches. You can use a toothpick to test the oil temperature; if the toothpick bubbles as soon as it hits the oil, it’s ready to cook.
- Rest: Use a rack to rest the chicken and allow the excess oil to drain.
- Heat a wok: Over high heat, warm cooking oil ready to stir fry the vegetables.
- Cook vegetables: Start cooking the veg for a few minutes and stirring them through the hot oil.
- Return chicken: Place the chicken into the wok and combine it with the vegetables.
- Add sauce: Finally, add the lemon sauce into the wok, ensuring all the pieces are covered.
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