Cherry & Dennis Recipes
Hong Kong-style Lemon Chicken
港式西檸雞
Recipe overview
Hong Kong-style Lemon Chicken uses evenly flattened boneless chicken thighs, pan-fried until golden and served with freshly cooked sweet-tart lemon sauce. A light coating keeps the chicken fragrant and tender. Lemon juice is kept out of the marinade and the sauce is added only at the end, so the chicken does not weep or turn soggy.
01
Ingredients
Main Ingredients
- 650 g boneless chicken thigh fillets (about
- 1.5 cm) trim sinew and excess fat, flatten to about
- 80 ml juice and 1 teaspoon yellow zest only); egg; 1 egg fresh yellow lemons (about
- 0 g all-purpose flour 4
- 50 ml unsalted chicken stock 1
- 150 ml chicken
Chicken marinade
- 1 teaspoon Light soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon Shaoxing wine (Omit for children or an alcohol-free version)
- 1/2 teaspoon Sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
- A pinch White pepper (Optional for children)
Light chicken coating
- 30 g Cornstarch
Lemon sauce
- 3 tablespoons Sugar (Adjust gradually after tasting)
- 1 tablespoon Honey
- 1/2 teaspoon Light soy sauce (For balance only)
- A pinch Salt (Add only after tasting)
- 10 g Butter (Stir in off the heat or over low heat; optional)
Lemon sauce slurry
- 1 teaspoon Cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon Water (Re-stir and add gradually)
Oil for pan-frying
- 2 tablespoons Cooking oil (Use across batches)
02
Tools
- large black nonstick frying pan
- spatula
- tongs
- lid
- large bowl
- small bowl
- two shallow dishes
- measuring cup
- knife
- wooden board
- meat mallet or rolling pin
- meat mallet or rolling pin
- plastic wrap
- lemon zester
- juicer
- strainer
- tablespoon
- teaspoon
- chopsticks
- kitchen paper
- instant-read food thermometer
03
Steps
Step 1
Trim the chicken
Remove tough sinew, loose edges and excess fat. Keep skin-on or skin-off treatment consistent for all four fillets.
Step 2
Flatten evenly
Cover with plastic wrap and gently pound from the centre outwards to about 1.5 cm; do not tear the meat.
Step 3
Marinate
Pat dry, mix with soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, sugar, salt and pepper, then rest 15 minutes. Do not add lemon juice.
Step 4
Prepare lemons
Wash and dry thoroughly. Zest only the yellow peel for 1 teaspoon, juice about 80 ml and strain out seeds; reserve zest for the end.
Step 5
Mix sauce
Combine lemon juice, unsalted stock, sugar, honey and soy. Mix cornstarch and water separately; reserve butter and zest.
Step 6
Egg and light coating
Beat egg in one shallow dish; combine flour and 30 g cornstarch in another. Dip chicken in egg, coat lightly, then tap off excess.
Step 7
Preheat pan
Heat the black nonstick pan over medium for 1 minute. Add half the oil when the surface is glossy but not smoking.
Step 8
Cook first side
Cook only two fillets at a time with space between them for about 4 minutes over medium heat; do not keep moving them.
Step 9
Turn and check
Cook the second side for 3–4 minutes; cover thick fillets for 1 minute if needed. The thickest centre must reach at least 75°C and have no pink meat; rest 3 minutes.
Step 10
Cook lemon sauce
Warm the sauce mixture in the small saucepan over medium-low heat until gently bubbling, for 1–2 minutes only.
Step 11
Thicken lightly
Re-stir slurry and add it gradually while stirring for 20–30 seconds, until it lightly coats a spoon. Add zest and butter over low heat and taste before salting.
Step 12
Slice and serve
Cut rested chicken into 2 cm strips on the white oval platter. Spoon warm sauce only down the middle, leaving golden surfaces exposed, then serve immediately.
Common mistakes
- Uneven fillets cook unevenly
- wet chicken will not brown
- long lemon marination makes chicken weep
- white pith and unstrained seeds make sauce bitter
- heavy coating becomes batter
- a cold or crowded pan makes chicken steam
- repeated flipping prevents browning
- surface colour alone does not prove safety—check 75°C
- hard boiling dulls lemon flavour
- all slurry at once forms lumps
- long-cooked zest turns bitter
- sauce poured early makes the crust soggy.
Tips
Chicken thighs stay juicier than breast; treat all skins the same; use plastic wrap when pounding; dry lemons before zesting and take yellow peel only; lemon acidity varies, so adjust sugar at the end; do not boil honey hard; omit wine rather than adding water; use a thin coating and pan-fry in batches; use a thermometer; re-stir slurry; add butter last; sauce immediately before serving; people with citrus allergy should not eat this dish.
