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
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.
