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Yesterday we met friends for lunch at a Chinese Restaurant. The wife suggested I try the lemon chicken which I did and it was delicious.

I want to try making it. It was sliced cutlets which probably had been fried or grilled. I asked the waiter if they were dipped in Panko and they were. Also asked about sauce. I thought it was cornstarch based a/c clear and had lemon bits in it. Besides lemon juice he said it had white vinegar, and sugar.

Do you think that is enough to go on for me to try my own? It was so good I ate up every scrap!

I would dip in egg and then panko crumbs with a touch of flour, Garlic powder and lemon pepper. Then fry in a small amount of peanut oil and a tad of butter. I would then mix 3 tablesppons froz.lemonade with a tablspoon of vinegar and 1 or 2 tablespns of sugar and 2 tablespns of soy sauce, taste add more of whatever it needs, heat in micro then add 2 tblspns cornstarch to 1/2 glass of water. stir in and heat again in micro. remove chicken from fry pan and add liquid mix to fry pan and stir until thick, add chicken and simmer covered for a 15 min. Serve with rice and veggies.I just buy the Jasmine rice in a bag that steams in Micro and the new Birds eye veg. in bag with the sauce on them.Yum!

This is a recipe from the Classic Chinese Cook Book by Mai Leung.

Let me know if there are any typos I missed when I proof read what I typed. Well that didn't copy correctly from my Word document. The chicken scratch looking measurement is 1/4 and the other small one is 1/2

CRISP LEMON CHICKEN
2 to 4 servings

PREPERATION OF INGREDIENTS

2 large whole chicken breasts: bone but leave skin on, pound meat side with back of cleaver

MAIRNADE (MIX AND MARINATE CHICKEN IN A BOWL FOR AN HOUR OR LONGER)

1 egg: beat well
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pale dry sherry
¼ teaspoon sugar
Juice from ½ lemon

½ cup cornstarch for dredging
2 tablespoons oil for stir-frying
1 teaspoon finely minced fresh ginger root
2 teaspoons minced garlic
¼ cup shredded scallions: 1 and half inches long, including green parts
8 very thin slices lemon without skin
¼ cup thinly shredded red or green bell pepper

SAUCE MIXTURE (MIX IN A BOWL AND COVER)

¼ teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons white vinegar
4 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons thin soy sauce
4 teaspoons pale dry sherry
½ cup clear chicken broth (not condensed)

2 teaspoons corn starch mixed with 2 teaspoons water
1 teaspoon lemon extract
4 cups oil for deep-frying
Scallion Brushes (see recipe) or slices of lemon for garnish

DIRECTIONS FOR COOKING


1. Put cornstarch for dredging on a plate. Generously and evenly dredge marinated chicken. Put chicken flat on a plate and set aside.
2. Heat a small pan over medium heat. Swirl in 2 tablespoons oil for stir-frying. When oil is hot, add ginger, garlic, and half the scallions. Stir to cook until the garlic turns golden. Add lemon slices and shredded pepper. Immediately pour in sauce mixture. When sauce just starts to bubble, add cornstarch water, stirring constantly until sauce is thickened. Add lemon extract. Mix well. Cover to keep warm.
3. Heat 4 cups oil in wok over high heat to deep fry temperature. Slide breasts into hot oil and deep fry until golden brown. Remove and drain.
4. Put chicken breasts on a chopping board and chop crosswise into half-inch pieces. Arrange pieces neatly on a serving platter. Sprinkle chicken with remaining shredded scallions.
5. Discard lemon slices from sauce. Pour sauce over chicken. Garnish platter with lemon slices, scallion brushes, parsley, or other greens. Serve hot


ETA - I don't see any reason you couldn't dredge the chicken in panko instead of cornstarch.

Note: thin soy sauce is the same thing as light soy sauce.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: still tryin,

It's one of my favorites but it is very sweet -- and the above recipe I think would be spot on.

Martha

Ohhh..… I love lemon chicken; what I do is just to pour some spoon of lemon juice on the chicken before grilling it.

My lemon chicken came out very good. But not as good as that from the restaurant. My sauce was the problem. Certainly edible but not as thick or flavorful as theirs. Theirs also seemed to have small chunks of what I think was lemon peel.

It also was lemon colored and flavored and not brown. Wouldn't the soy sauce make it brownish?