Friday, June 20, 2008

Lemon Chicken

I've been really busy in the Smoky Mountain Cafe test kitchen tweaking flavorful recipes to share with all of you. I don't care much for the yellow, thick, gooey lemon sauce found lemon chicken in a lot of restaurants. This has a more delicate lemon taste and a less gooey sauce. Ok boys and girls, let's make one of the easiest and best tasting versions Lemon Chicken I've found.

Lemon Chicken -





Slice 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts in this strips.

Place about a cup of cornstarch in a medium size bowl.

In another bowl, mix 2 eggs and 1 teaspoon of Asian Five Spice powder. I started with one egg and wound up needing 2...so use 2 eggs.

Coat the chicken strips first dusting each strip one at a time in the cornstarch, then dredging it through the egg mixture then again in the cornstarch. Fry the strips at medium-high heat in a large skillet or wok in about 1/3 cup of vegetable or peanut oil, 3 minutes per side Be careful not to crowd the skillet. Remove the strips from the skillet to a paper towel lined platter.

While the chicken is cooking, whisk together in a medium bowl, 1/2 cup chicken broth, 1 tablespoon lemon zest, 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice and 4 tablespoons tamari (aged soy sauce) or regular soy sauce and set aside. In a small bowl, mix together 1-1/2 teaspoons of cornstarch and 1 tablespoon of water and set aside.

When the chicken is cooked, lower the heat just a notch and add 2 tablespoons of minced garlic and 2 finely chopped shallots to the skillet and stir fry for about 30 seconds, then add the lemon/soy sauce and let it come to a boil. Once the sauce comes to a boil add the cornstarch/water mixture and stir until sauce has thickened.

Return the chicken strips to the skillet and coat the strips with the sauce. Simmer for about 5 minutes and serve. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and serve some fried rice (http://smokymountaincafe.blogspot.com/2008/02/asian-in-mountains.html) on the side.

6 comments:

Greg C said...

That sounds fantastic. I will have to give it a try. I love experimenting in the kitchen too.

Anonymous said...

I love lemon chicken and so does everyone in my family. Have you tried cooking with rice oil? You can get it very HOT.

Katherine Roberts Aucoin said...

I haven't tried rice oil, but i will definitely try it next time. Thanks!

Prudy said...

OOh-that looks delicious. I love the pics of the whole process. Your green beans look fantastic, too!

Steph said...

I love lemon chicken, but I haven't had it in a long time. Maybe I'll make it one day, but after my pad thai disaster, it will probably be a while before I start cooking meals. Thanks for visiting my blog. With more practise, I'm sure we'll both get over the fear of baking!

test it comm said...

That chicken looks good and sounds tasty.