Lemon Chicken

I think I've mentioned before how much I enjoy Italian food and did I mention Indian?? Well lets throw in Chinese also!! I do remember frequenting Chinese restaurants with my parents quite often growing up and developing the love for Chinese food quite early. B and I were lucky enough to have travelled to Hong Kong and Singapore quite a few times during our childhood. We remember eating in the restaurants and having our parents try and convince us to try "chickens feet"!! I think B was too young to know what it was and gave it a go, but never went back for seconds!

We really enjoy having theme nights at our place on the odd occasion. One was a Chinese night at our place and we went the whole hog and decorated the table and bought chop sticks for everyone to use. We also bought red lanterns and hung them from the lights. It really looked the part. The food was pretty good also even if I do say so myself! One of the dishes I made was this lemon chicken. I just love that tart flavour you get with the lemon and the texture of the crispy chicken under the sauce.

 I found this recipe in a Janelle Bloom book - "Fab food for family and friends" and it immediately brought back all those childhood memories of eating Chinese.
It's very easy and has great flavours that even my 3 lovelies enjoyed!!

You will need:
3 egg whites
1 1/2 tablespoons of cornflour
800g chicken breast fillets, trimmed, thinly sliced
peanut oil, for deep frying
4 green oinions, sliced thinly
steamed jasmine rice, to serve


Lemon Sauce
1 tablespoon cornflour
3 lemons, juiced and strained
2 chicken stock cubes, crumbled
2 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 tablespoons white sugar


For the lemon sauce, combine the cornflour and 1/4 cup of cold water in a small saucepan. Whisk to dissolve the cornflour. Add another 2 tablespoons of cold water, 1/2 cup lemon juice, the stock cubes, honey and sugar.  Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat until the sauce comes to the boil. Cover to keep warm, it will have thickened.

Combine the egg whites and cornflour in a large bowl. Whisk with a fork until the cornflour is dissolved. Add all the chicken and stir until well coated.

Poor the oil in a wok until it is one-third full and heat over medium-high heat until hot. Add one-quarter of the chicken and cook for 3 minutes, or until chicken is light golden. Transfer to a wire rack over a baking tray to drain. (Transferring fried food to a wire rack ensures the excess oil drains away, while keeping the base of the food crisp.

Allow the oil to heat up again before cooking the remaining chicken in three batches. Drain the oil from the wok, but don't clean the wok.

Return the chicken to the hot wok and stir fry for 1 minute, or until sizzling. Pour over the hot lemon sauce and stir fry until coated. Remove from the heat, sprinkle with green onions and serve with rice.

Enjoy! M x