riacmt@ubvmsa.cc.buffalo.edu (Carol Miller-Tutzauer) (05/10/91)
In article <1991May06.233557.8251@mthvax.cs.miami.edu>, mlm7395@rigel.tamu.edu (MECKFESSEL, MONICA LYNN) writes... >I am looking for a recipe for Chinese lemon chicken that does NOT >really care about anything else (like sweetness), and I'd even >appreciate several different versions so I can pick my favorite. Below is an assortment of lemon chicken recipes. I tried to choose them for their variety. Hopefully you can find the one that most closely resembles the version you prefer. *** Lemon Chicken - From The Chinese Restaurant Cookbook by Barbara Myers, ------------- NY: Greenwich House (div. of Crown Publishers), 1982, ISBN# 0-517-43606x ** Preparation ** 1 whole chicken breast (1 lb) [or use 1/2 lb boneless] Split breast in half lengthwise. Bone, then remove tendons and skin. Split each half-breast lengthwise into 2 pieces. You will have 1/2-lb boneless meat. Marinade: 1 1/2 t light soy sauce 2 t kaoliang wine or vodka [or dry sherry] 1/4 t sesame oil 1/2 t salt Combine marinade ingredients. Add to chicken and let stand 10 to 15 minutes. Coating: 1 egg white 1/4 c water chestnut flour or cornstarch Beat egg white until frothy, not stiff, in a shallow bowl. Put water chestnut flour into a separate shallow bowl. Crush, using the back of a spoon, until fine and powdery. Water chestnut flour makes a crispier crust than cornstart, which may be substituted. Lemon Sauce: 1 lemon (juice and rind) 1 piece fresh ginger (1 1/2 inches long) 2 T sugar 1/4 c chicken broth (canned is fine) 1 t cornstarch dissolved in 1 T water Cut the lemon in half lengthwise. Cut rind from one-half in lengthwise strips, trying to remove only the zest, not the white, or the sauce will be bitter. Then slice strips into shreds as fine as possible. Grate the zest from the remaining half lemon; set aside separately from shreds. Squeeze the juice from both halves to make 2 T; reserve. Peel ginger and cut lengthwize into very fine shreds to make the equivalent of 2 teaspoons; set aside with lemon shreds. (The fibers run lengthwise down the root and knobs; when shreds are cut with the fibers, they hold together better than when cut across them.) Garnish: Shredded iceberg lettuce Slice across into 1/4- to 1/2-inch shreds. Rinse with water; drain well, then chill to crisp for garnish. Additional: 3 c peanut or corn oil 2 t peanut or corn oil 1 1/2 t kaoliang wine or vodka [or dry sherry] Have oils and wine or vodka at hand. ** Deep-Frying ** 1. Heat the 3 cups peanut oil to 325 deg F in a wok or deep fryer. While oil is heating, dip the chicken strips in the egg white to coat, then roll in water chestnut flour; shake off excess. 2. One by one add the chicken breast strips to the hot oil. Deep-fry about 5 minutes, turning to fry evenly. The coating should turn crisp, but remain pale, not turn golden. 3. Remove chicken and drain on paper toweling. Keep warm in a 250 deg F. oven while preparing Lemon Sauce. Pour off oil from wok. ** Making the Lemon Sauce ** 4. Add 2 teaspoons fresh oil to the wok (or use a small saucepan). Heat over medium heat. Add the ginger and lemon strips, sizzle 5 seconds. Add the lemon sauce ingredients and stir until thickened and glossy. Remove from heat, and stir in the grated lemon peel and the 1 1/2 teaspoons kaoliang or vodka. ** Serving ** 5. Spread the crisp lettuce out on a small platter. Place chicken strips on a cutting board and slant-slice across in 1/3- to 1/2-inch slices. Transfer with Chinese cleaver to the shredded lettuce, retaining the original shape. 6. Pour the hot Lemon Sauce over the chicken and serve immediately to preserve the crispness. Yield: one order, or 4 small appetizer servings. Note: If necessary the chicken may be fried in advance. Reheat in a 375 deg F. oven until hot, about 5 minutes. The sauce may be prepared in advance and reheated. slowly bring to a simmer; do not boil or it will thin out. Add the kaoliang after reheating. This recipe may be doubled; but fry only half the necessary amounts of chicken at one time. ** Comments ** Lemon Chicken is Cantonese. This particular sweet and sour version was made famous in a New York restaurant -- an innovation of a creative chef (as are several popular dishes featured on Cantonese menues). The original recipe required lemon extract; the above adaptation is more subtle in flavor. Ling Mung Gai (Lemon Chicken) - From The Chinese Banquet Cookbook by Eileen ----------------------------- Yin-Fei Lo, NY: Crown Publishers, 1985, ISBN# 0-517-55521-2 Author's note: This is the recipe of my aunt number six. It differs from virtually every other so-called lemon chicken recipe in that there is no frying, no batter, and thus no heaviness at all. It is light and fresh and takes advantage of the fresh lemons with which it is made. 1 whole chicken, 3 lbs 8 oz chicken cutlets Marinade: 1 1/4 fresh lemons (5 quarters), thin-skinned lemons preferred 1 T white wine mixed with 1 t ginger juice 1 1/2 T light soy sauce 1 T oyster sauce 2 t sesame oil 2 t salt [or less] 2 t sugar 1/8 t white pepper 3 to 3 1/2 T cornstarch 15 sprigs of fresh coriander (cilantro, Chinese parsley) or parsley 1. Chop chicken and chicken cutlet into bite-size pieces and rinse thoroughly and individually, to ensure that there will be no small pieces or chips of bone. Drain off excess water, dry chicken pieces with paper towel, and place in a very large mixing bowl. 2. Squeeze 5 lemon quarters over the chicken and place 4 quarters in with the chicken pieces. Add remaining marinade ingredients. When all ingredients have been added to chicken, the entire mixture should be hand-tossed. Let the chicken and marinade stand for at least 1 hour. 3. Place chicken in a steamproof dish or cake pan and spread the pieces as much as possible. Pour remainder of marinade into the dish as well. 4. Steam the chicken from 30 to 50 minutes, turning chicken 2 or 3 times during cooking. The steaming process is complete when the chicken turns white. 5. Remove chicken from wok and place in a serving dish. Garnish with about 15 sprigs of coriander or parsley. Serve immediately. Note: If chicken has too much liquid, add 1 teaspoon cornstarch mixed with 1 teaspoon cold water and stir constantly until blended. If cornstarch is added, increase steaming time by 5 minutes [once cornstarch mixture is added]. During the steaming process keep additional boiling water at hand to replenish water in pot or wok. Cantonese Lemon Chicken - From The Gourmet Chinese Regional Cookbook by Calvin ----------------------- B. T. Lee and Audrey Evans Lee, NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1976, SBN: 399-11673-7 8 Chinese black mushrooms 2 lemons 1/4 c shredded bamboo shoots 1 t lemon extract 4 T sugar 2 t light soy sauce 1/4 c chicken stock or water 2 1/2 T dark soy sauce 1 chicken, about 3 lbs Oil for frying 1 T peanut oil 1/2 t salt or to taste 1/4 c shredded gingerroot [yes, this is correct] 1/4 c rendered chicken fat 2 t cornstarch mixed with 1 T water Preparation: Soak the mushrooms in water for 30 minutes or until they are soft. Drain and shred finely. discard the tough stems. Remove the skin from one of the lemons and shred it into strips the size of a matchstick. Finely grate the skin of the remaining lemon. Squeeze the juice from both lemons. In a bowl combine the mushrooms, bamboo shoots, shredded and grated lemon skins, lemon juice, lemon extract, sugar, light soy sauce, chicken stock, and 1 T of the dark soy sauce. Split the chicken in half. Dry with paper towels and rub with the remaining dark soy sauce. Allow the chicken to stand for 10 minutes. Cooking: In a skillet heat the oil to 375 deg F and deep-fry the chicken for 5 minutes on each side. Cut the chicken into 1 1/2- by 1-inch pieces and place them on a serving dish. heat a wok or skillet over high heat until a drop of water immediately sizzles into steam. Add the peanut oil, salt, and gingerroot. Stir for about 30 seconds or until the gingerroot browns slightly. Lower heat to medium and add the lemon sauce mixture. Stir for 2 minutes to blend the flavors. Add the chicken fat and stir for 1 minute. Add the cornstarch mixture to thicken the gravy, stirring constantly. Pour the sauce over the chicken in the serving dish. Lemon Chicken - From Madame Wong's Long-Life Chinese Cookbook by S. T. Ting ------------- Wong with Sylvia Schulman, Chicago: Contemporary Books, 1977, ISBN# 0-8092-7926-6 (cloth) or 0-8092-8030-2 (paper). Author's note: This is an extremely popular dish, with many versions. This is my original version. It is easy to prepare. Just be sure to remember that the batter should resemble runny pancake batter and that the lemon sauce should have the consistency of maple syrup. 2 whole chicken breasts, boned and skinned 1 t salt 1/2 t pepper 4 T flour 4 lemons 1 c water 1/2 c sugar 1 c sweet rice flour Pinch of salt and pepper 4 C oil for deep frying 3 T cornstarch dissolved in 6 T water 1 egg yolk 1. Trim fat from chicken. Cut each breast into 4 long pieces. Remove tendons. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge each piece with flour. Set aside. 2. Finely grate rind from 2 lemons. Squeeze juice from them. (Slice 2 other lemons for garnish.) 3. Mix lemon juice with water, sugar, and grated rind. Set aside. 4. For batter: Mix 1 cup sweet rice flour with cold water (should be a little runny). Add a pinch of salt and pepper. 5. Heat oil to 375 deg F in wok. Dip chicken into batter. Deep-fry until light golden brown. Drain. Put on a serving platter. Keep warm. 6. Heat lemon mixture. Thicken with dissolved cornstarch. Beat egg yolk. Add to lemon mixture, stirring rapidly until completely combined. (Be very careful to do this quickly or egg will curdle in the sauce. To be safe, add a few tablespoons warmed sauce to beaten egg yolk to heat it up. Then add egg to remaining sauce, combining completely.) 7. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces and serve with lemon sauce. Garnish with lemon slices May be prepared in advance through step 5. Refry before serving. Do not freeze. Hot Pot Lemon Chicken - From The Joy of Wokking by Martin Yan, NY: Doubleday, --------------------- 1979, ISBN# 0-385-18342-9 (paper) 0-385-18341-0 (cloth). Author's note: Lemon chicken is a delectable way to serve chicken with a different twist. The savory sauce delights anyone who loves lemon and gives the dish a snap of freshness!! Sauce: 1 T wine 1 T brown sugar 1 t oyster-flavored sauce (optional) dash of sesame oil 1/4 c soup stock 1 1/2 t salt 1/1/2 t cornstarch solution [see note below] 2 T oil 2 to 3 slices ginger 1 whole chicken (with bones), cut into bite-size pieces 1 large or 1 1/2 medium-size lemons, sliced and seeded 2 stalks green onion, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces 1. Combine sauce ingredients and set aside. 2. Heat wok or frying pan with oil and ginger over high heat. Add chicken, stirring continuously for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. 3. Add lemon, green onion, and sauce. Stir for another 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. 4. Transfer mixture to a clay pot (if available) or a saucepan. Cover and simmer on low heat for 15 to 18 minutes. Thicken remaining liquid with cornstarch solution if desired. [Note: Cornstarch solution is just cornstarch dissolved in water.] *** Enjoy, Carol