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
Ingredients
- For the Lemon Sauce and Candied Lemon Slices
-
1
lemon sliced in quarter inch rounds
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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 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
Directions
- For the Lemon Sauce and Candied Lemon Slices
-
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
-
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.
I think I get my love for food and cooking from my mom, who was an amazing cook. She would start baking and freezing a month before Christmas in order to host our huge open house on Christmas afternoon. I watched and I learned...to this day I try not to procrastinate when it comes to entertaining.
My cooking style is pretty much all over the place, although I'm definitely partial to Greek and Italian cuisine. Oh yes, throw a little Cajun in there too!
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