Lemon Chicken (Better Than Takeout)
Crispy double-fried tempura chicken tossed in a glossy lemon sauce. This Better Than Takeout lemon chicken dinner comes together in about 40 minutes.
Equipment
- 1 Wok
Ingredients
- frying oil for deep frying, I use canola but any frying oil will work
- 2 chicken breasts cubed into bite size pieces
- 2 tbsp chicken bouillon powder
Tempura batter
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 1 egg
- 1 cup sparkling water ice cold, a club soda or seltzer works great here
Lemon sauce
- lemon zest 1 whole lemon
- ½ cup lemon juice juice of 2 lemons
- ¼ cup honey
- 3 tbsp sugar
- ¼ cup white wine vinegar
Thickener
- 2 tbsp potato starch
- 2 tbsp water
Instructions
Preheat the frying oil
- In a wok or deep pot, add frying oil. I find that I use about a 1/2 gallon of frying oil in my wok. Just add enough frying oil so that the chicken wont touch the bottom of the pan when added.frying oil
- Turn on the heat to about medium. We are looking for a temperature between 315℉-335℉. Check the temperate of the oil with a thermometer. I like to use an infrared thermometer. If you don't have one, these are the thermometers I recommend.
Marinate the chicken
- Cube the chicken breasts into bite size pieces and place in a bowl. Coat with chicken boullion powder and toss until coated completely. Cover and let sit for 15-20 minutes while you prep the orange sauce and batter.2 chicken breasts, 2 tbsp chicken bouillon powder
Prep the lemon sauce
- In a small bowl, combine the lemon zest, lemon juice, honey, sugar, and white wine vinegar. Stir until the sugar dissolves and set aside.lemon zest, ½ cup lemon juice, ¼ cup honey, 3 tbsp sugar, ¼ cup white wine vinegar
Prep the tempura batter
- In medium mixing bowl, add flour, cornstarch, baking soda. Whisk until thoroughly combined.¾ cup all-purpose flour, ¼ cup cornstarch, ¼ tsp baking soda
- In a glass, add ice cubes and sparkling water. Mix until the sparkling water is ice cold. If your water is already cold, you can skip this step.
- Add egg and half of cold sparkling water to the dry ingredients. Use the whisk to hold back the ice cubes if you add the sparkling water to a glass with ice. Whisk until combined. It will be lumpy at this point.1 egg, 1 cup sparkling water
- Begin whisking again and slowly add the remaining cold sparkling water to the batter until it is the thickness is a little thinner than pancake batter and runs off the whisk about the thickness of a rat's tail. This usually takes most of the liquid but not all.
- Set batter aside.
Cook the lemon sauce
- In a small bowl, mix the potato starch and water to form a slurry. Set aside.2 tbsp potato starch, 2 tbsp water
- In a small pot on high heat, add the orange sauce. Bring it to a rolling boil.
- When the sauce has reached a rolling boil, whisk in potato starch slurry to the sauce. Whisk until the sauce thickens and becomes glossy. Remove from heat and set aside.
Batter and fry the chicken
- Check the temperature of the frying oil to make sure it is between 315℉-335℉. If it's above, decrease the heat to low. If it's below, increase the heat to medium high.
- Add 1/3 of the chicken pieces to the batter. Using a kitchen spoon, stir until coated.
- Use the spoon to scoop out each piece and place them in the hot frying oil.
- Fry the chicken pieces for 3-4 minutes until lightly golden brown. Remove from oil and place on a wire rack or in a large bowl lined with paper towels to drain the excess oil.
- Repeat until all chicken is battered and fried once.
Flash fry
- Increase the heat on the oil to high and check the temperature. The oil needs to be preheated to 350℉-375℉ to flash fry.
- Prep a large mixing bowl to combine the fried chicken and sauce.
- Add 1/2 of the tempura fried chicken back to the oil and fry for 45-60 seconds. Don't go longer than 90 seconds or the chicken will start to dry out.
- Remove from frying oil and place in the large mixing bowl. Repeat with other 1/2 of the chicken.
- Pour the lemon sauce over the chicken and toss them gently until they are evenly coated. Serve the lemon chicken hot, garnished with lemon slices and green onions, alongside steamed rice or vegetables.
Flash frying for a second time will push out the excess moisture from the batter and give it a very satisfying crispy texture.
Nutrition
Calories: 195kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 57mg | Sodium: 415mg | Potassium: 278mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 48IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 15mg | Iron: 1mg
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