Chinese Lemon Chicken: Crispy Golden with Sticky Tangy Sauce

⏱ Marinate: 20 min 🔥Cook: 20 min 👤Serves: 4 🍋 Sauce: Bright lemon

Chinese lemon chicken is the takeout dish that almost always disappoints, too sweet, not enough lemon, soggy coating, and the one that is genuinely easy to get right at home. Chicken thighs marinated in soy sauce and egg white, coated in cornstarch and fried until shatteringly crispy, then tossed in a glossy sauce of fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, honey, ginger, garlic and chicken broth that actually tastes of lemon rather than of sugar with a lemon rumour in it. Thirty minutes. Serve over jasmine rice.

Ingredients

For the chicken

• 1½ lbs (680g) boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1½-inch pieces. Thighs stay juicy at frying temperature where breast dries out.
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine, or dry sherry
• 1 egg white
• ¼ teaspoon white pepper
• ¾ cup (90g) cornstarch, for coating. Cornstarch only, no flour. Cornstarch produces a lighter, crispier crust that stays crunchier longer than an all-flour coating.
• Neutral oil for frying

For the lemon sauce

• ⅓ cup (80ml) fresh lemon juice, from 2–3 lemons. Fresh only. Bottled lemon juice produces a flat, one-dimensional sauce that tastes nothing like bright citrus.
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest, zest the lemons before juicing. The zest carries the aromatic essential oils that give the sauce its fragrance, the juice provides the acidity. Both are needed.
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• ½ cup (120ml) chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic, finely grated
• ½ teaspoon fresh ginger, finely grated
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch, whisked with 1 tablespoon cold water into a slurry before adding

For serving

• Steamed jasmine rice
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
• Lemon slices, optional garnish

Step by step

1. Marinate the chicken. Toss the chicken pieces with soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, egg white and white pepper. Mix well and leave for 20 minutes at room temperature.
2. Make the sauce. Whisk together lemon juice, lemon zest, honey, sugar, chicken broth, soy sauce, rice vinegar, garlic and ginger in a small saucepan. Set aside with the cornstarch slurry ready nearby.
3. Coat and fry the chicken. Place cornstarch in a shallow bowl. Lift the chicken pieces out of the marinade, shake off excess, and toss in cornstarch until evenly coated on all sides. Heat 1 inch of neutral oil in a wide pan to 350°F (175°C). Fry the chicken in batches, do not crowd for 4–5 minutes until deeply golden and cooked through. Drain on paper towels.For extra crispiness: fry once until pale golden, rest 3 minutes, then fry again at 375°F for 1–2 minutes. The double-fry produces a crust that stays crunchier under the sauce.
4. Cook the sauce. Heat the lemon sauce in the saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the honey and sugar dissolve and the sauce comes to a gentle simmer, 2–3 minutes. Add the cornstarch slurry and stir constantly until the sauce thickens and turns glossy, about 1 minute. Taste and adjust, more lemon for brightness, more honey for sweetness.
5. Toss and serve. Add the fried chicken to the sauce and toss quickly to coat, no more than 30 seconds in the sauce, or the coating starts to soften. Plate immediately over steamed jasmine rice. Garnish with scallions, sesame seeds and lemon slices. Serve right away. The longer the chicken sits in the sauce, the softer the coating becomes. Toss and serve immediately for maximum crunch.

The lemon rule

The reason most Chinese lemon chicken disappoints is that the lemon gets buried under sugar. The sauce in this recipe uses less sweetener than most and keeps the lemon juice and lemon zest clearly in the lead, the result should taste unmistakably of lemon first, sweet second.

Both the juice and the zest matter. The juice provides acidity and tang. The zest provides the fragrant lemon oils that give the sauce its aroma. Using juice without zest produces a flat, sharp sauce. Using both produces the bright, layered lemon flavour the dish is supposed to have.

Make it ahead

Claire’s note

The lemon sauce keeps refrigerated for up to 5 days, make a large batch and use it all week. The chicken is best fried and served fresh, the coating softens significantly once it sits in the sauce or is refrigerated. Leftovers reheat best in a 375°F oven for 8–10 minutes on a wire rack rather than in the microwave, which softens the crust completely. For a party or entertaining: fry the chicken ahead and keep warm in a 200°F oven on a wire rack, then sauce to order at the table.

Serve with

Chinese lemon chicken over steamed jasmine rice is the complete meal. Alongside the beef and broccoli or the chicken lo mein it makes the full Chinese-American spread. For everything else in the collection the complete Asian recipes guide and the Chinese recipes collection have it all.

Add Chinese lemon chicken to your weekly meal planner, make the sauce Sunday, fry and toss fresh any night of the week in 20 minutes. And for more recipes, follow us on Pinterest.

Chinese Lemon Chicken

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• Author: Claire Bennett
• Total Time: 40 minutes
• Yield: 4 servings 1x

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Description

A bright and crispy take on Chinese lemon chicken, featuring marinated chicken thighs coated in cornstarch and tossed in a zesty lemon sauce.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1½ lbs (680g) boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1½-inch pieces
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry
• 1 egg white
• ¼ teaspoon white pepper
• ¾ cup (90g) cornstarch
• Neutral oil for frying
• ⅓ cup (80ml) fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• ½ cup (120ml) chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic, finely grated
• ½ teaspoon fresh ginger, finely grated
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch, whisked with 1 tablespoon cold water
• Steamed jasmine rice for serving
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
• Lemon slices for garnish (optional)

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Instructions

1. Marinate the chicken. Toss the chicken pieces with soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, egg white, and white pepper. Mix well and leave for 20 minutes at room temperature.
2. Make the sauce. Whisk together lemon juice, lemon zest, honey, sugar, chicken broth, soy sauce, rice vinegar, garlic, and ginger in a small saucepan. Set aside with the cornstarch slurry ready nearby.
3. Coat and fry the chicken. Place cornstarch in a shallow bowl. Lift the chicken pieces out of the marinade, shake off excess, and toss in cornstarch until evenly coated on all sides. Heat 1 inch of neutral oil in a wide pan to 350°F (175°C). Fry the chicken in batches for 4–5 minutes until deeply golden and cooked through. Drain on paper towels.
4. Cook the sauce. Heat the lemon sauce in the saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the honey and sugar dissolve and the sauce comes to a gentle simmer, about 2–3 minutes. Add the cornstarch slurry and stir constantly until the sauce thickens and turns glossy, about 1 minute.
5. Toss and serve. Add the fried chicken to the sauce and toss quickly to coat—no more than 30 seconds. Plate immediately over steamed jasmine rice, garnished with scallions, sesame seeds, and lemon slices.

Notes

Fry the chicken fresh for maximum crunch, as the coating softens over time. Make the lemon sauce ahead and refrigerate for up to 5 days.

• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Category: Main Course
• Method: Frying
• Cuisine: Chinese

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 serving
• Calories: 450
• Sugar: 15g
• Sodium: 800mg
• Fat: 20g
• Saturated Fat: 3g
• Unsaturated Fat: 10g
• Trans Fat: 0g
• Carbohydrates: 30g
• Fiber: 1g
• Protein: 30g
• Cholesterol: 100mg