It is, as you may have guessed, inspired by two chicken dishes that I thought were Chinese when, in fact, they were both “invented” in America. I am, of course, referring to orange chicken and lemon chicken.
Why combine the two dishes? Curiosity. While lemon chicken has a pronounced tang and the sauce can be on the tart side if the amount of sugar is reduced, orange chicken is decidedly sweet. I like the sweetness of orange but when used as the base of a sauce, it can get cloying. By balancing it with the tartness of lemon juice, the result is — surprisingly or not — extremely pleasing.
But taste is just one aspect of the sauce. To really appreciate its fruity tones, grated orange and lemon zests are boiled with freshly squeezed orange and lemon juices along with sugar and a bit of salt. When boiled sufficiently, the mixture darkens and turns syrupy as the sugar caramelizes.
Tip: Make the sauce before frying the chicken. The syrup thickens as it cools. If it appears too thin by the time it is lukewarm, you still have time to boil it again to thicken it some more. On the other hand, if it is turns so thick that it is barely pourable, you may stir in more juices to thin it out a bit.
This is essentially a fried chicken dish glazed Korean style. Meaning? Meaning the crispy fried chicken is coated with the sauce only when the meat is fully cooked. You don’t half-cook the chicken and leave it to braise in the sauce. The crispiness can’t be retained that way.
The double frying is essentially Korean style too (although much of Asia employs this technique). The chicken is first seasoned and left to marinate. Then, it is tossed in a mixture of flour and starch, fried over medium heat to cook the meat through, then fried a second time over high heat to create that much-sought after crispiness on the surface.
When the chicken is done, all you have to do is toss it with the sauce. I did this off the heat but you may also opt to reheat the sauce in a frying pan and toss in the chicken. Over high heat, just toss everything together until all the sauce has been soaked up by the meat.
Ingredients
- 500 grams chicken thigh fillets skin on
- salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ½ cup lemon juice freshly squeezed
- ¼ cup orange juice freshly squeezed
- ¼ teaspoon grated orange zest
- ¼ teaspoon grated lemon zest
- ¾ cup white sugar
- cooking oil
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Wipe the chicken thigh fillets and cut into chunks. Toss with 1 ½ teaspoons salt and all of the pepper. Marinate in the fridge for eight hours or overnight.
- Place lemon juice, orange juice, zests, ½ teaspoon salt and all of the sugar in a sauce pan. Boil, uncovered, for ten minutes or until reduced by half and syrupy. Set aside to cool.
- In a pan, heat enough cooking oil to reach a depth of at least three inches.
- Place the chicken in a resealable bag, add the starch and flour, seal and shake to coat each piece lightly.
- Over medium heat, fry the chicken in batches until lightly browned, about four minutes per batch.
- Turn up the heat to high, refry the chicken for one to two minutes until golden and crisp.
- Place the chicken a mixing bowl. Drizzle in the cooled sauce and toss to coat each piece well.
- Serve your crispy fried chicken fillets with lemon orange sauce immediately.
