Lemon Chicken

...my version.

Since I heard about the raves about the Orange Chicken being served at a local restaurant, I have also wanted to taste it, too. I found two different recipes from brother's old magazines, but both recipes seemed to be a little too complicated.

I was able to see a recipe note I copied for Lemon Chicken a few years back, and since I can't find a good orange in the nearby talipapa, I decided to merge all recipes to come up with this. Luckily, we had lemons in the fridge. :)




Lemon Chicken
{serves 5}

Ingredients (for the chicken):

• 3 chicken leg quarters, deboned and cut into strips
  
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoons garlic powder
• a dash of cayenne pepper (optional)
• 1 egg, beaten
  
• oil for frying
  

Ingredients (for the sauce):

• 1 cup water
• juice of 1 lemon
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar (or to taste)
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 of chicken bouillon cube
• 1/4 tablespoons grated or minced ginger
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch, dissolved in some water

Ingredients (for garnish):

• spring onions, cut up
• 1 thin slice of lemon,

How to Cook:

• Combine all dry ingredients for the chicken breading. Drop chicken pieces in egg, and coat with breading. Fry until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and set aside.
• Prepare the sauce: Combine all, except the cornstarch slurry. Cook on low heat stirring every now and then. Adjust the taste according to your preference.
  
• Add cornstarch slurry and simmer until the sauce thickens.
• Arrange chicken pieces on the serving platter and pour over sauce. Garnish with spring onions and lemon slice.

Notes to Consider:

• You can also use your choice of powder or granule seasoning for the breading instead of salt. If you're using the granule form, please crush it first (until it becomes powder) before mixing into the cornstarch.
• To check if your breading was okay, get one chicken strip and use it as your "slave" piece. Cut the strip in half and coat it with the egg and breading and fry. Taste if it's okay, then adjust the breading according to your preference.
• Same with the sauce, test if it's seasoned okay by dipping one small piece of fried chicken into the sauce.
• You can also opt to use honey instead of sugar, or use both if you want.

The dish turned out really good. My sister said it was a bit too tangy, but it was okay for me and my brother's taste. Well, my sister wasn't a fan of sour foods, hence the little side comment. But she did say the chicken and the whole dish tasted great, but she would just like a little of the sauce. As for me, I loved the sweet, salty, tangy fusion of the sauce, and I really can't wait to try this with orange. I am interested how orange will do for this dish.

*** Jenn ***