Recipe

Best Lemon Chicken Recipe


Best Lemon Chicken Recipe
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I have tried new recipes for Lemon Chicken over the years. Some of them are good and some are just terrible! This recipe is a tried and true recipe and is unique because the chicken thighs are marinated before being fried in oil. The chicken comes ou... More

Annieamie

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Ingredients
  • 3 pounds boneless chicken thighs, cubed or cut into 3 inch pieces (Or butterfly the thighs before marinating)
  • Vegetable oil for deep-frying
  • Marinade:
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch
  • 1/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 egg
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon powdered chicken base (bouillon)
  • 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • Lemon sauce:
  • 1/4 cup of cornstarch
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 2 cups water
  • 1-1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 cup white vinegar
  • 1/2 fresh lemon, sliced thin
  • 1/2 ounce fresh ginger
  • 1 teaspoon lemon extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon yellow food coloring which is optional!

Directions
  1. Combine marinade ingredients and marinate chicken in refrigerator for 2 hours.
  2. Drain off all of the liquid.
  3. Deep-fry chicken in 350-degree oil for 3 minutes. (If you butterflied the thighs, cook until golden brown and firm!)
  4. Drain well on paper towels.
  5. To prepare lemon sauce, stir the cornstarch into the 1/4 cup of water to dissolve.
  6. In a saucepan, combine remaining sauce ingredients and bring to a boil.
  7. Stir in starch/water mixture and continue cooking until the sauce is thickened.
  8. Serve chicken with sauce!
  9. *I butterfly the chicken, slice at at an angle, place the chicken directly over some rice and pour the sauce over the chicken. Then I sprinkly lightly with some soy sauce.

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Comments


I LOVE CHICKEN and I especially LOVE Lemon Chicken! This recipe looks soooooo good and I know I'll be preparing it very soon! Thank you Annie my friend. Your recipe deserves a "5" for sure.


I love lemon chicken and the picture above looks magnificant. You've got my 5. I agree with lor, it's well deserved. Great post.


Sounds fabulous! Got my 5
jett


OMG ANNIEAMIE, this is how I learned how to make it in a chinese cooking class that I took a bunch of years ago. I'm making this dish tonight for the kiddies and hubby. Awesome recipe. A real classic. I'm so grateful to have it again!


I just love this chicken-lemon dish...


This sounds like a treat. I'm going to make it this weekend!


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Alterations


Someone wrote to me stating that the chicken would be greasy if its deep fried. This recipe is a Chinese recipe where food is deep fried. If you drain the chicken well, it won't be greasy. Plus, any leftover chicken, store it wrapped in aluminum foil so that it will remain crispy. If you store it in a baggie, it'll get mushy!

If you're looking for a less-caloric, California Cuisine'ish type of recipe, I can't help you here. This recipe is authentic and was given to me years ago by a wonderful woman from Pacific Heights Rd on Oahu. She fried small strips of the chicken quickly over very hot oil in a huge wok in her kitchen. The lemon chicken was always perfect! She used Peanut Oil and it was never "greasy" in flavor.
If you like Orange Chicken, this is a great alternative!

Someone else asked how I serve this dish. I buy a small cabbage and slice it into long "threads" and place the cooked and sliced chicken on top of that. The the sauce is poured directly on to the chicken. I use the Hawaiian Lunch Plate theory here.. I add 2 scoops of Calrose or medium grain rice with one large scoop of Macaroni Salad. If you want the recipe for the mac salad, feel free to write!
Have a happy day, All!
Annie


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