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March 5, 2013

Lemon Chicken (Chinese Style)

Lemon chicken is quite a common dish in Chinese restaurants in India and it’s always been one of my favorites. Although, I have seen the dish featured here in some Chinese places, it’s not as common and popular as its sister dish, Orange Chicken. I personally prefer it to orange chicken though, cos where orange chicken is just sweet, the tanginess of the lemon in this dish cuts the sweetness and gives the flavors more dimension. It’s tart, tangy, crispy, sweet and addictive.

PTR Lemon Chicken (Chinese Style)

I think this dish makes a great appetizer, although it’s mostly known as a main dish. For an appetizer I prefer making it a little drier, but if you’re making it as a main dish served with rice or veggies, I would suggest adding a little more chicken stock to the sauce to cut the tartness a touch and add all the sauce to the chicken.

Watch A Video Of This Recipe

PTR Lemon Chicken (Chinese Style) close-up

It’s a super easy recipe and one you can make ahead, as long as you don’t mix the sauce in till you’re ready to eat.  Here’s the step-by-step picture recipe…

Lemon Chicken (Chinese Style) Recipe Part-1 Lemon Chicken (Chinese Style) Recipe Part-2 Lemon Chicken (Chinese Style)

Lemon Chicken (Chinese Style)
2014-11-30 20:49:42
Serves 4
A dish with crispy chicken strips, tossed in a tangy sweet lemon sauce, that can be served as an appetizer or main.
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Prep Time
20 min
Cook Time
30 min
Prep Time
20 min
Cook Time
30 min
Ingredients
  1. 2 large chicken breasts
  2. 1 egg
  3. 2 tbsp Soy Sauce
  4. 2 tbsp Sherry (or Shaoxing Wine)
  5. 1 tsp sesame oil
  6. 2 lemons (zest + Juice)
  7. 3/4 cup corn starch + 1/2 tbsp dissolved in a little water
  8. 1/2 cup chicken stock
  9. 1/3 cup sugar
  10. Salt as per taste
  11. vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
  1. – Crack one egg into a medium mixing bowl and add the soy sauce, sherry/shaoxing wine, sesame oil and the zest of one lemon to it. Mix it all well together. This is the marinade for the chicken.
  2. – Slice the chicken breast into strips and add it to the marinade and let it sit covered in the fridge for 20-30 minutes atleast or a couple hours.
  3. – Then, in a shallow bowl add the corn starch and season it generously with salt.
  4. – Dip each strip of the marinated chicken in the corn starch to coat it on all sides and lay them on a baking sheet lined with wax paper, ready to fry.
  5. – While you’re coating the chicken, get a pan on stove and heat up about 1/2 an inch of oil on medium-high.
  6. – When the oil is hot, fry the coated chicken strips in small batches for about 4-6 minutes, until it turns a light golden and the chicken is cooked through inside.
  7. – Remove the chicken with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Break a big piece to check if the inside is cooked.Go ahead, give it a taste.
  8. – For the sauce, zest the other lemon into a sauce pan. Add to it, half a cup of lemon juice (roughly the juice of 2 lemons), 1/2 a cup of chicken stock and a 1/3 of a cup of sugar.
  9. – Put the pan on medium-high heat and bring the sauce to a boil while stirring to dissolve the sugar.
  10. – When the sauce starts bubbling, add the corn starch slurry (1/2 tbsp corn starch + 1 tbsp water) while stirring continuously.
  11. – The sauce will thicken fast and turn glossy. Turn off the heat and season it with salt.
  12. – Give it a taste-test by dipping a piece of the fried chicken in it. Good huh?
  13. – When you’re ready to eat…simply add the chicken to a frying pan and slowly spoon in some of the sauce. Toss the chicken to coat it in the sauce. Add as much sauce or all of it if you like.
  14. – Garnish the Lemon chicken with toasted sesame seeds and some sliced green onion. You can serve this dish up as an appetizer and keep it dry or sauce it up and serve over plain steamed rice.
By Noreen Hiskey
Adapted from PictureTheRecipe.com
Adapted from PictureTheRecipe.com
Picture the Recipe https://picturetherecipe.com/
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Filed Under: Main Course/ Entrées, Poultry- Chicken/Turkey, Recipes Tagged With: chicken recipes, chinese lemon chicken recipe, chinese style lemon chicken, homemade lemon chicken, lemon chicken, picture recipes, step by step picture recipe, step by step recipe

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. It's an EU thing says

    March 6, 2013 at 10:43 am

    Great recipe! Thanks for sharing… I love getting this at a Chinese restaurant… But I can bring it home with me too I guess 😉

    Reply
  2. Deepshikha says

    March 7, 2013 at 4:30 pm

    I’ve never actually seen lemon chicken on menus, but your recipe looks delicious! I’ve never been able to master that perfect texture on the outside for some reason, but i might retry, the pictures are really helpful 🙂

    Reply
  3. cmb says

    August 9, 2013 at 7:06 pm

    This tastes delicious. Is there any way to make the sauce more solid? I like pouring the leftover sauce onto my rice, but its consistency is a little too watery for that. Maybe more corn starch? (I’m just learning how to cook, sorry if this question is ridiculous)

    Reply
    • john says

      January 23, 2016 at 6:52 am

      sugar and starch is what makes it more thick.

      Reply
  4. James says

    December 21, 2013 at 11:48 am

    Very tasty and nice photographs!

    I made this for the family last night, and even our picky 3 year old liked it.

    A few notes on changes to the recipe I made:

    I didn’t have sherry, so I used brandy. I doubled the cornstarch slurry to 1 tbsp to make a thicker glaze-like sauce. And I had to juice 3 1/2 lemons to get to 1/2 c of juice, but I’m glad I did because it would’ve been too sweet otherwise–I was using Meyer lemons and should’ve dialed back the sugar because they are milder.

    Reply
  5. Christina says

    December 30, 2013 at 12:32 pm

    Just made this for lunch. It was so delicious and easy!

    Reply
  6. Ashley says

    February 17, 2014 at 2:52 pm

    Made this tonight and it was a big hit!! Great recipe i will definitely be making it again!

    Reply
  7. BELLA says

    February 21, 2014 at 7:19 pm

    I just needed the lemon sauce, so this comment is only about the lemon sauce as I didn’t make the chicken. The lemon sauce turned out perfect! even though i did not have chicken stock and instead added just water! Still really delicious!

    Reply
  8. Angel says

    April 4, 2014 at 11:32 am

    Made this last night and it was fantastic!! Usually I would have just thrown the chicken on the rice and added the sauce but I took the time to throw it in the frying pan with the sauce instead and I was glad I did! It came out amazing!

    Reply
  9. Steve says

    April 12, 2014 at 5:16 am

    The chinese takeaway round the corner from where I used to live is generally considered the best in the area and I love their food. This tastes exactly the same as theirs!!

    I’ll be making this on a regular basis from now on.

    Reply
    • Noreen says

      April 18, 2014 at 7:03 pm

      That’s so nice to hear. I love lemon chicken and I’m glad yours turned out good. 🙂

      Reply
  10. Bil says

    June 21, 2014 at 3:31 am

    Fourth or fifth time I have made this so far, I love this recipe, I have started to add twists of my own to it so I can steal it and claim it as my own. Thank you so much for showing me how easy it is to cook this.

    Reply
  11. Allan middleditch says

    June 28, 2014 at 6:08 am

    Is corn starch and corn flout the same thing

    Reply
    • Noreen says

      June 30, 2014 at 7:57 am

      Yes, I believe so.

      Reply
      • Chris says

        August 5, 2015 at 4:24 am

        No. I’ve made thatistake before. Turns out that corn flour is simply cornmeal that’s been ground superfine. It doesn’t thicken well and leaves a white haze. Starch is extracted from corn with heat and water. It becomes clear when heated.

        Reply
        • Sarah says

          August 15, 2017 at 4:49 pm

          I disagree. I’m Australian, we call it cornflour here. I’ve lived in America – where they call it Cornstarch – both are the same. A superfine, bright white powder.

          Cornmeal is completely different again from Cornstarch and Cornflour.

          Reply
        • Paula says

          August 8, 2018 at 1:56 am

          Corn flour corn starch are 1 of the same

          Reply
  12. Jesper Rasmussen says

    July 30, 2014 at 6:58 am

    Loved this 🙂 Easy-to-follow recipe, attractive photos and tasty result. Not for the calorie conscious but nice once in awhile. Thanks for taking the time to present this great dish in such a thought-out way 🙂

    Reply
  13. Jesper Rasmussen says

    July 30, 2014 at 7:01 am

    Oh, btw I cooked the chricken strips in my Phillips deep fryer and they came out great. However, I think next time I’ll calorie bomb it even more and cook the cheicken strips in tempura batter and panko bread crumbs. Ever tried that? Is it too much of a good thing, I wonder?

    Reply
  14. Archita says

    August 13, 2014 at 2:37 am

    Made this dish yesterday with a little variation-instead of sherry i used rum and added a little bit of vinegar since i was falling short of lemon juice. Nonetheless the dish tasted just awesome,much like the ones that we get to taste in the restaurants of Calcutta,India. thank you for sharing this awesome recipe.

    Reply
  15. Jim says

    August 28, 2014 at 11:25 am

    Made this recipe today turned out spot on!,
    Loved it I’ll be using this one again
    Nice crispy chicken and lemon sause was really good
    Not even the takeaway round here makes it that good!

    Reply
    • Noreen says

      August 31, 2014 at 7:56 am

      Thanks Jim! That’s so nice to hear. 🙂

      Reply
  16. Lindsey Smith says

    November 28, 2014 at 5:15 pm

    This recipe is AMAZING! I happened to scan across this site and was very pleased with the results. I basically only use this recipe to make Lemon Chicken. Great results!!

    Reply
  17. Sunbird says

    February 23, 2015 at 11:00 pm

    Tried it
    Turned out perfect
    Thank you

    Reply
  18. J says

    February 24, 2015 at 2:23 am

    Awesome recipe and super easy to make, thanks so much for posting!

    Reply
  19. sarah says

    February 25, 2015 at 2:11 am

    can this be made with no alcohol ? looks delicious want to give it a go.

    Reply
    • Noreen says

      February 25, 2015 at 8:04 am

      Yes Sarah, you can use white vinegar instead of the Sherry.

      Reply
  20. Judy Still says

    May 10, 2015 at 7:49 pm

    Tried your recipe, its yummy, But, how do you keep chicken warm please. ?

    Reply
  21. Melissa says

    May 11, 2015 at 12:41 am

    This recipe was amazing!
    So easy to make, and such a hit with the whole family!!

    Reply
  22. Anidha says

    July 10, 2015 at 10:38 pm

    Thanks for this, Noreen! I managed to replicate it following your recipe 100%! We had lemon chicken two days in a row – it was that good. I doubled the amount of cornstarch in the sauce to make it thicker though. Apart from that, this recipe is perfect. Thanks again!

    Reply
  23. All Recipes says

    February 29, 2016 at 2:41 am

    This is Very Delicious Recipe. i Made Last Night. Author Keep it Up.
    Thanks

    Reply
  24. Kalpana says

    October 27, 2016 at 2:27 am

    Hi Noreen ! Thanks for sharing this lemon chicken chinese style recipe , it looks delicious and tasty. Any substitute for soy sauce to add in this recipe?? TIA

    Reply
  25. Justin Cooper says

    March 19, 2017 at 9:42 pm

    Thanks Noreen, that is an awesome recipe!

    Reply
  26. Jacqueline says

    November 22, 2017 at 2:31 pm

    Is it supposed to be this sweet? It is like lemonade chicken.

    Reply
    • Noreen says

      November 23, 2017 at 1:03 pm

      This dish is on the sweater side just like orange chicken.

      Reply
  27. Stepan says

    April 15, 2020 at 10:36 am

    Hi. I am form Ukraine and just cooked chicken based on this recipe. It was delicious. Thank you.
    Image is here^ https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2651532878449242&set=a.1400318010237408&type=3&theater

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Chow Mein (Panda Express Copycat Recipe) | Picture the Recipe says:
    November 11, 2014 at 5:53 pm

    […] veggies or cooked chicken. Or team it with some home made Orange Chicken, Honey Sesame Chicken, Lemon Chicken (Chinese Style) or Chili Pork with Peppers for a complete family style Chinese take-out at home for a fraction of […]

    Reply

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"You eat with your eyes first" ...Hi! I'm Noreen. A huge foodie. I love to cook, eat, read cookbooks, watch cooking shows and talk a whole lot about food. Food to me is an endless topic. I could learn, eat and talk about food every day of my ...

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