Crispy Lemon Chicken with Fresh Lemon-Honey Sauce

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

Thin chicken cutlets in a shatteringly crisp cornstarch batter, sliced and fanned over a glossy sauce built from real lemon juice, honey and a strip of zest — no neon powder, no cloying syrup. It's the takeout-counter classic done the way a good Cantonese kitchen does it: the sauce goes under the chicken so the crust stays crunchy to the last bite.

Ingredients

• 2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 lb)
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine or dry sherry
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp white pepper
• 1 large egg white

• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 2/3 cup ice-cold water or seltzer
• 1/4 cup cornstarch, for dredging
• 6 cups neutral oil for frying (peanut, canola or vegetable)

• 2 large lemons (for 1/3 cup juice plus zest strips)
• 3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 3 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 tsp rice vinegar
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 thin slice fresh ginger, smashed
• 1 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp cold water
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter

• 2 scallions, thinly sliced on a bias
• 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
• 4 thin lemon slices, for garnish
• Steamed jasmine rice and blanched broccoli, for serving

Instructions

1. Butterfly each chicken breast horizontally into two thin cutlets. Place between plastic wrap and pound to an even 1/3-inch thickness. In a bowl, toss the cutlets with the Shaoxing wine, sesame oil, 3/4 tsp salt, white pepper and egg white until slick and coated. Let sit 15 minutes at room temperature while you make the sauce.
2. Peel 3 wide strips of zest from one lemon with a vegetable peeler, then juice both lemons through a strainer — you want 1/3 cup fresh juice. Do not use bottled juice; the whole dish lives on this.
3. In a small saucepan, combine the chicken broth, honey, sugar, rice vinegar, 1/2 tsp salt, smashed ginger and the lemon zest strips. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook 3 minutes to infuse. Fish out and discard the ginger and zest.
4. Stir the cornstarch slurry to recombine and whisk it into the simmering sauce. Cook 30 to 60 seconds, whisking, until glossy and thick enough to coat a spoon. Kill the heat, then whisk in the lemon juice and the butter. Adding juice off-heat keeps the flavor bright and fresh rather than cooked-down. Taste: it should be sharply lemony with honey behind it. Cover and keep warm.
5. Pour 2 inches of oil into a heavy pot or Dutch oven and heat to 350°F on a thermometer. Set a wire rack over a sheet pan nearby.
6. While the oil heats, whisk the 1/2 cup cornstarch, flour, baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt in a bowl, then whisk in the ice water until it looks like thin pancake batter. It should ribbon off the whisk. Put the 1/4 cup dredging cornstarch in a shallow dish.
7. Working one at a time, lift a cutlet from the marinade, press both sides in the dry cornstarch, shake off the excess, then dip into the batter and let the extra drip off for a couple of seconds.
8. Lower 2 cutlets into the oil away from you and fry 4 to 5 minutes, flipping once, until pale gold and cooked through (165°F internal). Transfer to the rack. Return the oil to 375°F and fry the remaining cutlets. Then fry all four again for 60 to 90 seconds at 375°F — this second pass is what makes the crust crackle. Drain on the rack, never on paper towels.
9. Rewarm the sauce over low heat for 30 seconds and pour it onto a warm serving platter in a wide pool. Slice each cutlet crosswise into 3/4-inch strips and lay them over the sauce, keeping the tops dry.
10. Scatter with scallions and sesame seeds, tuck lemon slices around the edge, and serve immediately with jasmine rice and blanched broccoli. Do not let it sit — the crust is at its best in the first five minutes.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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