Honey Lemon Chicken

Crispy honey lemon chicken with thick sweet and tangy lemon sauce. This is healthier version of Chinese Lemon Chicken as the chicken is marinated and baked to get a golden crunch coating.

Course Dinner

Cuisine Chinese

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 15

Total Time 25

Servings people

Calories 427kcal

Author Kim

Ingredients

Chicken

300 grams skinless chicken breast sliced into strips
1 medium egg
2 tablespoons Soy sauce
1 tablespoon Rice Wine Vinegar
½ cup cornflour/cornstarch
1 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
Spray Oil

Lemon Sauce

¼ cup Lemon juice freshly squeezed
2 tablespoons Lemon rind finely grated
⅓ cup Chicken stock/broth
2 tablespoons Honey
1 tablespoon Rice Wine Vinegar
2 tablespoons cornflour/cornstarch
2 tablespoons tap water

Other

1 teaspoon white Sesame Seeds
¼ cup Spring onions/scallions sliced
2 cups Cooked Jasmine rice

Instructions

Chicken

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. or 320 degrees F. In a large bowl, add egg, soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of Rice Wine Vinegar. Whisk together with a fork, add chicken strips and coat with marinade.
In a large bowl, add ½ cup of cornflour (or cornstarch) and 1 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder. Mix to combine.
Remove chicken strips from marinade one at a time, shake off excess and dip in cornflour/cornstarch, until coated. Place strip on a large oiled baking tray. Repeat until all chicken strips are done. Discard the marinade.
Spray chicken strips again all over with a quick 3 second spray, making sure there are no big white spots of cornflour/cornstarch visible.
Bake for 15 minutes. Make sauce whilst chicken is baking.
When chicken is cooked, use a spatula to lift the pieces off, making sure to scrape up all the crunchy bits – you want to keep those. Put chicken into a large bowl ready for the sauce.

Lemon Sauce

Add the lemon juice, rind, chicken stock/broth, honey and 1 tablespoon of rice wine vinegar to a pot in high heat. Stir through until it reaches a simmer and is gently bubbling.
To thicken sauce, combine cornflour/cornstarch with water in a small bow and mix. Pour into the lemon sauce whilst it is still hot and on the stove. It will thicken quickly. Remove from heat once desired consistency is reached. (see note 3)

Serving

In a large bowl, add the chicken strips, and half of the lemon sauce and toss together. Add half the sesame seeds and spring onions and toss.
Divide rice evenly between 2 bowls. Divide chicken and arrange on top of rice. Drizzle remaining lemon sauce over chicken, and sprinkle left over sesame seeds and spring onions.

Notes

Type of Chicken: in lieu of using chicken strips, you could use the same amount of chicken tenders instead, and cut them up afte they’ve baked, however you’ll end up with less crunch.
Cooking Chicken: If you’re worried about the chicken sticking to the tray, line it with baking paper before putting down the chicken strips to prevent sticking. (You’ll still need to spray the chicken before going into the oven)
Thickening Sauce: The lemon sauce must be very hot (just bubbling, not boiling) before you thicken it. If you attempt to thicken the sauce and it is not hot enough, the thickening process will not occur.

Nutrition