Lemon Chicken To Go
Author Notes: I've been working on creating Chinese-American carry out (take out) for quite some time now. I think I have Orange Chicken, Almond Boneless Chicken and Fried Rice down and this week did Lemon Chicken. This one is sweet and lemony and gives a few options for serving. - inpatskitchen
Makes 3 to 4 servings
For the Lemon Sauce and Candied Lemon Slices
- 1 lemon sliced in quarter inch rounds
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup water
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/2 cup agave syrup
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 1 grated garlic clove
- Zest of one lemon
- Juice of 2 lemons
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with a few tablespoons water to make a slurry
- For the candied lemon slices, in a medium sauce pan bring the cup of water and cup of sugar to a boil. Lay the lemon slices in and simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and let cool somewhat in the liquid. Remove the slices and set them on a rack to finish cooling. These are purely optional but very nice for garnish.
- Combine the chicken broth, honey, agave, brown sugar, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, crushed red pepper, soy sauce and ginger in a small sauce pan. Bring up to the boil and add the cornstarch slurry. Continue cooking until the mixture thickens. Set aside.
For the chicken and putting it all together
- 3 to 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 cup white rice flour
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 8 to 10 ounces club soda
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- Vegetable or peanut oil for pan frying
- Hot cooked white rice for serving(optional)
- Shredded lettuce for serving (optional)
- 1 finely sliced green onion for serving (optional)
- Coarsely chopped honey roasted peanuts for serving(optional)
- The lemon sauce and candied lemon slices if using
- In a medium bowl, whisk the rice flour, AP flour, salt and pepper together.
- In a small bowl beat the egg with about 4 ounces of the club soda and then whisk into the flour mixture adding more club soda as you need to make a batter slightly thicker than thin.
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan, dip the chicken pieces into the batter, shaking off any excess and then fry them on both sides until lightly browned. Transfer the pieces to a rimmed baking sheet and bake in a 425F oven for about 10 minutes.
- Re heat the lemon sauce and serve as desired. We like all the optional garnishes on ours, served on a bed of lettuce and rice(with the green onion stirred in). We place the chicken on the bed, pour a little sauce over and garnish with the nuts and candied lemon slices.
- This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Citrus Recipe

over 1 year ago aargersi
Abbie is a trusted source on General Cooking.
This sounds really really good - MUCH better than the typical take out
over 1 year ago inpatskitchen
Thanks aargersi! I really find making these carry outs at home so much better and easy too!
over 1 year ago EmilyC
Sounds delicious!
over 1 year ago inpatskitchen
Thanks EmilyC! It really was..