Lemon Chicken with Chinese Lemon Sauce

LEMON CHICKEN with CHINESE LEMON SAUCE

9/24/2016

This is my pick for a perfect birthday dinner! I have many memories of wonderful Chinese feasts at Leann Chin's restaurant in Minneapolis, and we LOVED the Lemon Chicken with Chinese Lemon Sauce the most! An extremely popular place because of the incredibly fresh and flavorful Chinese food - nothing at all like takeout, they had a wonderful dinner buffet that was to die for! This was the restaurant I requested for many a birthday celebration or special event. When it closed, it was a sad day indeed!

I actually had the pleasure of meeting Leeann Chin when she first opened her original restaurant and many times throughout the years, and she was a charming and delightful woman who would jet all over the country to cook Chinese feasts for her clients. She created a Chinese Cookbook for Betty Crocker, and her restaurants were bought out by General Mills. There are now Leeann Chin fast-food restaurants located throughout the Twin Cities, but the recipes (and food) are not the same...

This is my favorite take on my favorite recipe of hers!

Lemon Chicken with Chinese Lemon Sauce

I'm sharing two variations of this recipe with you - the traditional Original Breaded version, and a much crunchier Crispy Breading recipe. My little ones LOVE the crispy version!

Lemon Chicken

This Chinese Lemon Sauce absolutely makes the recipe, but it is also perfect as a dipping sauce for egg rolls, crab Rangoon, or drizzled on top of rice.

Lemon Chicken with Lemon Sauce

I'm not going to lie - this is a labor-intensive dinner to make, but perfect when you have extra hands around that want to help! You can also prepare the majority of this dish ahead of time and put it together pretty quickly at the last minute.

The chicken is so tender, moist and flavorful, and the lemon sauce is absolute perfection.

Hope that you enjoy my birthday dinner as much as we do!

Lemon Chicken with Chinese Lemon Sauce

LEMON CHICKEN with CHINESE LEMON SAUCE

Lemon Chicken with Chinese Lemon Sauce is my pick for a perfect birthday dinner! My favorite copycat recipe of one of my favorite dishes from Leeann Chin in Minneapolis (oh, how I cried when they closed this restaurant!) I prefer the Traditional Breading, but my little ones LOVE the Extra Crispy!

Lemon Chicken with Chinese Lemon Sauce

INGREDIENTS:
2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts or tenderloins
vegetable oil
1 lemon, thinly sliced (for garnish)

LEMON SAUCE:
1 cup chicken broth
2/3 cup honey
2/3 cup apricot preserves
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
6 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
¼ cup red wine vinegar
¼ cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons Asian Sweet Chili Sauce
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
2 tablespoons cornstarch

MARINADE/BATTER:
2 large eggs (room temperature)
2 egg yolks (room temperature)
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 cup flour
2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper

BREADING: (two variations – extra crispy or traditional breading)
EXTRA CRISPY BREADING:
3 cups panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)

OR
TRADITIONAL BREADING:
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup reserved marinade/batter
¼ cup cornstarch
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt

HOW I MAKE THIS:

Cut each chicken breast into fourths lengthwise, or if using breast tenderloins cut each tenderloin into half lengthwise if they are really thick. Wipe any excess juices off of chicken with paper towels. Place chicken in a marinade container or a large ziplock bag.
PREPARE MARINADE/BATTER: Whisk together all of the marinade/batter ingredients in a medium bowl. Reserve ½ cup mixture for breading. Pour remaining marinade/batter over chicken, covering all areas of chicken until evenly coated. Let sit at room temperature 30 minutes.
ADVANCE PREP LEMON SAUCE: Whisk together all of the Lemon Sauce Ingredients in a medium saucepan; set aside. Heat to boiling; reduce heat and simmer just until sauce starts to thicken, whisking constantly. Taste and if desired, add additional lemon for tangier, brown sugar for sweeter, or sweet chili sauce for spicier. Remove from heat
PREPARE BREADING: If preparing EXTRA CRISPY chicken, pour all of the panko in a shallow bowl. For TRADITIONAL BREADING, mix flour, reserved marinade/batter, cornstarch, vegetable oil, baking soda and salt in a shallow bowl
Working with a few pieces of chicken at a time, use one hand to remove chicken from marinade and let any excess drip off. Place one piece of battered chicken at a time in breading bowl. With your other hand, toss chicken in panko/traditional breading until evenly coated, pressing panko/traditional breading firmly into chicken. Place each coated piece on a baking sheet; repeat until all chicken is coated evenly.
Add enough vegetable oil to a large nonstick pan to cover ½-inch up the sides. Heat over medium high heat. (or preheat wok to 350 degrees.) Dip chicken pieces one at a time into batter. Working in batches, fry 2 or 3 pieces at a time until light brown and cooked through, about 3 minutes each side. (Don’t crowd the pan – it will prevent your chicken from getting crispy.) Remove from oil and drain on paper towels. (Cover cooked chicken to keep it warm while you continue to fry chicken.) Repeat until all chicken is cooked.
Cut each chicken piece crosswise into 5 or 6 pieces.
Meanwhile, reheat Lemon Sauce to recombine, whisking constantly.
Cut each chicken piece crosswise into 5 or 6 pieces. Garnish with lemon slices, drizzle Lemon Sauce over chicken and serve immediately.

DO AHEAD DIRECTIONS: After frying chicken 3 minutes, cover and refrigerate no longer than 24 hours. Prepare sauce, cover and refrigerate no longer than 24 hours. Just before serving, prepare lemon slices. Heat vegetable oil (1-1/2 inches) to 375 degrees. Fry chicken all at one time until hot, turning once, 2 minutes each side. Cut each piece crosswise into 5 or 6 pieces. Garnish with lemon slices and reheated Lemon Sauce.

SERVINGS: 4-6 servings

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