Bill Granger's lemon chicken recipe is easy with an Oriental twist using Chinese spices as well as ginger and rice wine. This lemon chicken is a favourite
Bill Granger's lemon chicken recipe is easy with an Oriental twist. Flavoured with Chinese spices, ginger, rice wine and tangy lemon, this chicken dish is bound to be a family favourite. This recipe will take around 25 mins to prepare and cook and serves 4 people. It's a great mid-week meal that the whole family can enjoy together. The lemon flavour works wonders with the ginger. The chicken is cooked so it's soft and tender. Serve your chicken pieces on a bed of rice and greens. You could also try serving the chicken with egg noodles tossed in soya sauce.
Ingredients
2tbs plain (all-purpose) flour
1tsp Chinese five-spice
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 x 180 g (6½ oz) boneless chicken breasts with skin
Vegetable oil, for shallow-frying
1 lemon, cut into wedges
3cm (1") piece of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into thin strips
4tbsp honey
2tbsp Chinese rice wine
80 ml (2½ fl oz) lemon juice
2tbsp light soy sauce
80 ml (2½ fl oz) chicken stock
2tbsp soft brown sugar
2tsp cornflour (cornstarch), mixed with a little cold water
WEIGHT CONVERTER
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to
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Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F/gas mark 4). Mix the flour, five-spice, salt and pepper on a large plate. Dust the chicken in the spiced flour.
Heat enough oil for shallow-frying in a large wok over medium-high heat. Fry the chicken breasts for 2-3 mins, or until the skin is crisp and golden. Drain on kitchen paper, then put the chicken on a baking tray and bake for 6 mins, or until just cooked through.
Meanwhile, drain all but 2tbsp of the oil from the wok and return to high heat. Add the lemon wedges and ginger and stir-fry for 2 mins. Add the honey, rice wine and lemon juice and cook for 1 min, then add the soy sauce, chicken stock and sugar and simmer for 2 mins. Add the cornflour mixture and simmer for 2 mins, or until slightly thickened. Remove from the heat.
To serve, cut each chicken breast into five or six pieces and spoon some sauce over the top.
Top Tip for making Bill Granger's lemon chicken
Cornflour, a fine white flour made from maize, is great for thickening because of its fine texture. It's less likely to form lumps than ordinary flour and it's also flavourless.
Bill Granger is an Australian chef, food writer and the brains behind worldwide restaurant chain Granger & Co. With restaurants all over London, Australia, Tokyo, Seoul and Hawaii, his ability for being able to impress foodies and families alike is what’s made him so successful.
In his early career he trained as an artist but his passion slowly moved over to food and he opened his first restaurant, Bill's, in Sydney in 1993 and then another one in 1996. Both were huge and immediate successes, creating a name for this self-taught chef as one to watch in Australia's food industry. 25 years later and he truly spanned the globe with Granger & Co. and now counts four prime-spot, successful restaurants in central London alone.
Bill has put his success down to this saying, “Australians live very much for the pleasure of the day to day, whether it’s entertaining friends at home or sitting out in the street on a milk crate having a coffee. I’ve always celebrated our outdoors lifestyle with fresh, seasonal and simple everyday food.”
Bill has written 11 best-selling cookbooks and recorded five cookery series where he explores the produce, cuisines and locations he’s filming in. Bill's Kitchen: Notting Hill, Bill's Holiday, Bill's Food and Bill's Tasty Weekend are just some of the 30 television shows that he's been involved with over the years.
After travelling back and forth between England and Australia, Bill Granger and his family moved to London for good in 2009. With his wife Natalie, Bill has three daughters called Edie, Ines and Bunny.
It's Bill's family and his love for homecooking that's inspired many of the recipes you'll find on our site. So whether you're looking for an indulgent, hearty family meal like homemade pork meatballs that you can spend time preparing, or inspiration for quick and tasty recipes like stir-fry (opens in new tab), we’re sure to have all of Bill’s best ones.
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