Lemon Chicken – Worth Gushing About

I don't know about you but when I have lemon something, like the lemon sauce on Lemon Chicken, I expect it to be yellow. But, if you stop and think about it, lemon juice isn't yellow. And whilst lemon zest most certainly is, it doesn't impart its sunshine colour to anything it comes in contact with (except my fingers and white T-shirt). Which means the yellow lemon sauce on Lemon Chicken very probably has artificial food colouring unless . . . ? You make it yourself, of course! One egg yolk is all it takes to make the lemon sauce a cheerful, summery yellow. How easy is that?

At this point, you might expect me to talk about how fantastic Lemon Chicken is, blah blah blah . . . . You'd be right usually but today, I'm not gushing about anything. Nope, not after watching this hilarious reading of Gwyneth Paltrow's recently released cookbook, My Father's Daughter:



Note to self: Gushing is embarrassing.

Check these out:

Thai Stuffed Chicken Wings	Green Chicken Curry	Chicken Satay	Dak Kang Jung (Korean Sweet & Crispy Chicken

LEMON CHICKEN (Recipe for 4 persons) 2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs weighing 300 g, cut each piece into 2 lengthwise 1 tsp salt 2 tsp Shaoxing wine dash of ground white pepper 2 tbsp water 3 tbsp cornflour 3 tbsp potato flour 1 egg white, beaten vegetable oil for deep-frying Lemon sauce (prepare ingredients before frying chicken) 1 egg yolk 3 tbsp lemon juice 1 tbsp water ½ tsp light soya sauce ⅛ tsp salt ½ tsp cornflour 1 tsp vegetable oil 1 tbsp diced white onion 1 tsp minced garlic 3 tbsp sugar 1 tbsp julienned lemon zest The chicken is deep-fried twice, and it should be served immediately after the second time. Make sure the lemon sauce ingredients are assembled and ready to roll before deep-frying. To prepare chicken, whack with a mallet or side of a cleaver to even out the thickness to about 1½ cm. Make a shallow slit in any part that refuses to conform. Rinse and drain. Mix thoroughly with salt, wine, pepper and water. Marinate 1 hour. To prepare ingredients for lemon sauce, beat egg yolk with lemon juice, water, light soya sauce, salt and cornflour till thoroughly mixed. Set aside. In a non-reactive pan, stir-fry onion and garlic with 1 tsp oil over medium heat till fragrant and softened but not brown. Turn off heat. Add sugar, egg yolk mixture and lemon zest, setting setting aside 2 pinches as garnish. To deep-fry chicken, mix cornflour and potato flour evenly. Dredge chicken in egg white, then flour mixture. Deep-fry in hot oil over medium heat till lightly golden brown and cooked. Remove from oil. Reheat oil till just smoking. Refry chicken for a few seconds till golden brown. Remove from heat and drain. Finish making lemon sauce whilst chicken is draining. To make lemon sauce, cook and stir sauce gently over medium heat till sauce is thickened and coats back of spoon lightly. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. To serve, cut chicken into bite size pieces. Drizzle chicken with sauce and sprinkle with remaining lemon zest. Eat immediately whilst chicken is still crisp. Time, tide and lemon chicken wait for no man!

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