Crispy, sour, sweet, sticky – lemon chicken is a delight of a treat meal. But this Chinese takeaway favourite is easier than you might think to make at home.
That sticky lemon sauce uses just a handful of ingredients, and the crunchy chicken is simple to fry. In the end, you get a lighter (but just as delicious) version of your favourite takeaway dish. A fakeaway, if you will.
I serve mine with a mix of rice and peas, just to get some vegetables into the meal. You could serve it with a veggie egg fried rice – that would be phenomenal. Or over a chow mein. The possibilities are endless!
Crispy Lemon Chicken – The Ingredients
- The lemon sauce – the sauce uses just lemon juice, sugar, water and cornflour. Plus a pinch of salt. It’s simple to make and easy to get that moreish takeaway flavour at home.
- The crispy chicken – chicken breast is best for this. The batter is simply plain flour, cornflour, eggs and seasoning. The chicken is fried in vegetable oil for that golden crispness.
- The rice – white rice and peas are all you need.
- To serve – I top mine with sliced spring onions, but that’s completely optional.
Top Tips
- Making the lemon sauce
The lemon sauce should be a consistency I like to call ‘gloopy’ – very thick. It should become this thickness as soon as you add the cornflour and stir. If it doesn’t, you might need a little more cornflour.
- Frying the chicken
To ensure you cook the chicken evenly and all the way through, make sure that you cut your chicken into as similar size pieces as you can. They should be small, about an inch square.
- Get ahead
This recipe is best made fresh and eaten immediately – I wouldn’t recommend making it in advance.
Get the cook books:
Crispy Lemon Chicken
Save This RecipeIngredients
For the lemon sauce
- 2 lemons juice only
- 30 g caster sugar
- 150 ml water
- 1 tbsp cornflour
For the chicken
- 50 g plain flour
- 50 g cornflour
- 2 eggs
- 400 g diced chicken breast
- Vegetable oil
For the rice
- 300 g white rice
- 200 g frozen peas
To serve
- Sliced spring onions
Instructions
- For the sauce, put the lemon juice, sugar and water in a small saucepan. Put over a low heat and bring to a gentle simmer. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. In a small cup, mix the cornflour with one tablespoon of water. Stir until combined, then tip into the saucepan, stirring the lemon mix constantly. It should thicken immediately. Add a pinch of salt and turn off the heat.
- Put the rice in a large pan of boiling water. Boil for 15 minutes, or until cooked. Add the peas for the last 30 seconds. Drain.
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Crack the eggs into a bowl. Add a pinch of salt and pepper, whisk.
- Put the plain flour and cornflour onto a large plate. Use your fingers to gently mix the two together.
- Line up the egg bowl, flour plate and another empty plate. One by one, dunk the pieces of chicken in the egg mix then cover with flour on the flour plate. Put onto the empty plate.
- When all of the chicken is coated, get a large saucepan and fill it with about 2 inches of vegetable oil. Put on a medium heat.
- When hot, add the chicken – starting with any bigger pieces – about 6 pieces at a time. Fry for five minutes, turning regularly, then drain on kitchen roll. Transfer the cooked chicken pieces to a baking tray and keep in the oven to stay warm while you cook the rest. Continue with the rest of the chicken.
- When you are ready to serve, pile the rice and peas into bowls. Reheat the lemon sauce, then tip the chicken pieces into it, toss and add to the bowls. Serve immediately.
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