Chinese Lemon Chicken. Crispy fried chicken coated in a zesty tangy lemon sauce with a hint of garlic. This quick sticky Chinese lemon chicken recipe takes 30 minutes and is simple to make.
What is Chinese Lemon Chicken?
Chinese-style lemon chicken is a popular dish served at many Chinese restaurants and Chinese takeout for good reason! The sweet, savoury, tangy sauce over that crispy chicken is unbeatable. It's one of those delicious recipes made of simple ingredients. Serving best with white rice and your favourite vegetables.
This dish originates from Hong Kong. You may find this crispy Chinese lemon chicken served at Hong Kong-style cafes, also known as cha-cha-teng in Cantonese.
Why You'll Love it
- My delicious recipe is an easy dish and simple to make with accessible ingredients!
- The cooking process only takes 10 minutes or less and the rest goes towards preparation
- This great recipe will save yourself $15-20 in takeout. A better-than-takeout meal!
- No deep frying involved, just a shallow fry
- Great for busy weeknights
- Fantastic for the whole family!
Ingredients
You’ll need the below ingredients for this easy lemon chicken recipe. Please scroll down to below recipe card for exact measurements.
- Skinless Boneless chicken thighs: or substitute with chicken breast for a leaner alternative
- Corn starch: aka corn flour or substitute with potato starch
- Neutral oil: like avocado oil, sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, peanut oil, vegetable oil or canola oil. Avoid olive oil, coconut oil or any heavy scented oils.
- Salt & Black Pepper
Sticky lemon Sauce:
- Brown sugar: or substitute with white sugar. I recommend brown sugar as it gives the sauce a more molasses taste.
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Lemon Zest: though this requires additional effort, it really adds a nice zesty touch to the sweet lemon sauce
- Freshly squeezed lemon juice: please use freshly squeeze and avoid using the kind sold in those yellow plastic lemons! Fresh is best. The artificial kind just doesn't taste the same.
- Regular soy sauce: aka all-purpose soy sauce. This is different from dark soy sauce as it's not as dark or thick in color. You may also substitute with low sodium soy sauce or light soy sauce. If you’re gluten-free, substitute with tamari sauce, coconut aminos or a gluten-free soy sauce of your choice.
- Chicken broth or chicken stock: make sure it's low sodium
- Cornstarch
Optional Garnish
- Sesame seeds
- Lemon slices
- Green onions or spring onions
How to make Chinese Lemon Chicken
Below are brief steps with visuals to show you how to make crispy lemon chicken. Please scroll down to the recipe card below to find full instructions and details.
Prepare Chicken Thighs
Dice chicken thighs into bite size pieces, about 1-inch wide. Transfer diced chicken to a large bowl.
Prepare Sauce
In a small bowl, combine your sauce ingredients as listed. Set aside.
Coat Chicken Pieces
Add cornstarch to the bowl of diced chicken and evenly coat each piece in the cornstarch with tongs. If you have extra time, you can place cornstarch on a large shallow bowl and coat individually coat the chicken pieces into the starch until evenly coated for that crispy coating. Alternatively, you could also toss the diced chicken in a Ziplock bag with the cornstarch.
Heat Oil
Heat a large skillet, heavy-bottomed pot or wok over medium-high heat, add vegetable oil. Allow oil to reach a temperature of 350 degrees F with a digital thermometer. To check if oil is hot enough without a digital instant read thermometer, place a wooden chopstick into the oil and look for bubbles to form. Once you see bubbles, your oil is hot enough.
Fry Chicken
Carefully lower coated chicken away from you and spread apart quickly to prevent pieces from sticking to each other. Fry chicken for 6-7 minutes in total until golden brown, flipping over halfway.
Remove Cooked Chicken from Oil
Remove fried chicken pieces from oil and transfer to a wire rack or baking sheet lined with paper towel to soak up excess oil. Discard any excess oil from pan.
Cook Sauce
Heat pan on medium heat and pour in sauce. Keep stirring sauce until it bubbles and thickens and you have a sticky sauce.
Toss in Chicken
Toss in fried chicken. Optional, garnish with sesame seeds, lemon slices or green onions. Enjoy!
Storage
This dish will last up to 4 days in an airtight container stored in the fridge.
Reheating
To reheat, heat a frying pan on medium heat and reheat the chicken. I would add a few tablespoons of water to help loosen the sauce. Alternatively you can microwave the chicken for 2-3 minutes
Expert Tips
Below are tips on making Chinese lemon fried chicken:
Chicken thigh for best taste
Since chicken thigh has more fat content, it’ll taste better than using chicken breast. It’s also more forgiving if you happen to over cook it. However, you may use chicken breast for this recipe.
Don’t skip on Lemon Zest
I know it takes more time to zest a lemon but it’s worth it especially for this recipe! This zest is so aromatic that it will take your lemon chicken from a level 8 to a 10!
Evenly coat chicken to get it crispy
To get crispy chicken without any bald spots requires an even dusting of cornstarch. If you have time, add the cornstarch to a plate and dredge your chicken pieces a bit at a time and set aside. The method shown in the video still results in crispy chicken, but the first listed method results in even crispier chicken!
Do not overcrowd the pan
If you're using a smaller pan, do not overcrowd it. Shallow fry in small batches in a single layer. If you overcrowd the pan, you won't get crispy chicken, especially for the large pieces.
Medium high heat is key!
This is the heat level I use (level 7-8 out of 10) for crispy shallow fried chicken. Medium level could work but it won’t be as crispy in my experience but please adjust accordingly to your stove top as all stoves are different.
Sauce needs to bubble to reduce
If you’re simmering your sauce over medium heat, with time it should reduce with consistent stirring and bubbling. If it doesn’t bubble for whatever reason, increase the heat until it does. The bubbling is a sign of evaporation creating for a thick smooth sauce.
FAQ
Below are frequently asked questions about this dish:
Can I substitute with chicken breast?
Yes! That will work but please reduce the cooking time as needed and only fry the chicken until about an internal temperature of 160 F and then remove from hot oil. Then toss back into sauce to cook until it reaches 165 F and remove from heat immediately. Chicken breast tends to dry out faster than thigh so that’s why it’s important to pay attention to the cooking time.
Can I make this in the air fryer?
Yes! I share instructions on how to achieve this in my recipe card below so please scroll down for that.
Substitute for cornstarch?
You can substitute with potato starch.
Can I substitute the cornstarch with flour?
Yes, but just be warned the chicken won't become as crispy.
Brown sugar substitute?
Honey, white sugar or any sweetener of your choice will work.
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