Easy Chinese Lemon Chicken Recipe (Oven or Airfryer)

Chinese lemon chicken are crunchy bites covered in a tangy, sweet citrus sauce. It's a classic takeaway dish where the meat remains flavourful inside out and crispy despite being covered in sauce. The citrus sauce doubles as a beautiful gravy when eaten with plain white rice or fried chow mein. 

Chinese lemon chicken is usually deep-fried in oil until golden and coated in a thick sauce. For our recipe, we'll show you three ways of making this at home, including deep-frying and making it in an air fryer and oven.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Chinese Lemon Chicken Recipe | Oven or Air Fryer
• Cooking Tips
• Deep frying in oil
• Using An Airfryer
• Using An Oven
• Popularity

Ingredients

Here are the ingredients you'll need to make Chinese lemon chicken at home. 

• 300 g chicken thigh fillet
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon cooking wine
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon corn starch
• white pepper
• 1 egg
• 30 g plain flour
• 50 g corn starch
• 1 lemon
• 3 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon corn starch
• 70 ml water
• Lemon zest (optional)
• toasted sesame seed (for garnishing)
• chopped spring onions (for garnishing)

Chicken

To cook Chinese lemon chicken, we use chicken thighs or breasts. Our favourite part is the thighs. They are tender and packed with flavour compared to the breasts. 

The breasts, in contrast, are more lean but less juicy when cooked. You can choose breast meat for a healthier version of Chinese lemon chicken since it has less fat. We recommend using breasts for people who prefer a meatier bite to their chicken.

Marinade

A tasty lemon chicken marinade combines soy sauce, oyster sauce, cooking wine, sesame oil, sugar, white pepper, and cornstarch. While there are other marinade varieties, we found this combination of seasonings to be our favourite. It adds a layer of umami flavour to the meat that balances well with the sweet and sour sauce.

We recommend marinating the meat for about 1 hour. However, if you're in a hurry, let the meat soak in the marinade for at least 5 minutes.

Batter

You will just need plain flour, cornstarch, and eggs for the batter. Measure out the plain flour and cornstarch and mix them in a bowl. Once the marinated chicken is ready for cooking, mix an egg over the meat thoroughly.

After that, add the dry flour mix to the wet marinated chicken and combine them. We recommend pouring the dry mix bit by bit into the wet mix. This method will help you ensure the meat is evenly coated with the flour and starch.

Once the chicken is all battered up, we suggest letting it sit for a few minutes to allow the batter to adhere to the meat. For a visual guide, watch our recipe video below.

Sauce

To make the chinese lemon sauce, you must reduce the mixture of lemon juice, honey, cornstarch, and water to make it a thick sauce.

For lemons, choose those that are not green but are dark yellow and feel heavy. This indicates freshness and juiciness. Squeeze out the lemon juice from the fruit, but discard any seeds.

We love to add fresh lemon zest to our dish, as it strengthens the refreshing fruity flavour while adding more fragrance to the sauce. Just make sure to slice it thinly, as the zest can be bitter when bitten. 

Garnish

We think combining toasted sesame seeds and chopped spring onions makes the best garnish for our Chinese lemon chicken recipe. The sesame seeds add a crunchy texture and nutty flavour to the dish.

In addition, the spring onions provide a refreshing earthiness that cuts through the dish's sweetness and sourness. The green spring onions also make the overall dish look more appetising.

Cooking Tips

To ensure your Chinese lemon chicken turns out perfectly, take note of our cooking tips.

Massage the seasoning

When marinating the chicken, use your hands to gently massage the seasonings into the meat. This not only helps tenderise the meat, but we also found that the seasonings' flavours seep into it better.

Using chopsticks

Use chopsticks to ensure the dry flour mix evenly coats the marinated meat. We do not recommend mixing the Chinese lemon chicken batter using your hands as too much flour and starch end up sticking to your hands. 

Using chicken wings

You can also use wings if you don't want to use breast or thighs. Wings are a good choice for someone who prioritises the crispy goodness of the dish. However, it has a higher fat content with the skin and a higher bone-to-meat ratio, so it takes much longer to cook. 

You'll also need to make more sauce as there is more surface area to coat. We recommend making 1.5 times more sauce in our recipe.

If you switch the meat to pork, you can also cook sweet and sour pork chops with the same ingredients as the Chinese lemon chicken recipe.

No lemons

While you can substitute lemon with other citrus fruits like orange and lime, the taste will vary. Using oranges will result in a less sour but sweeter sauce, while limes, due to their sharp acidity, will create a very sour gravy.

Don't skip the cornstarch

When making the sauce, do not skip adding the cornstarch. It's vital to achieve the sauce of perfection. Some people may suggest skipping the cornstarch in the sauce of the recipe easier. In contrast, we highly recommend you add cornstarch to our lemon chicken recipe.

The starch slurry enhances the overall sweet gravy by making it thicker and glossier - just like how you get it at your favourite Chinese takeaway shop.

Make sure all the cornstarch has dissolved, and no solid clumps are visible. Then, add the Chinese lemon chicken sauce to the pan under medium heat. Continue heating it up to reduce the gravy until it starts to bubble up. We recommend stopping at the point of bubbling, as the sauce will thicken even further as it cools down. 

Coat the thick sauce evenly on each meat strip so that each bite has an aromatic, tart sensation.

Deep frying in oil

Frying in oil is one way to get crispy Chinese lemon chicken. The temperature should be around 170°C (340°F). When the oil is bubbling, dip the handle of a wooden spoon in it. If it is stealthily bubbling, you're ready to cook.

None or too many bubbles mean that the pan is too cold or hot. Be careful; the wrong temperature will mean a longer cooking time. 

Also, do not add too many ingredients simultaneously, as overcrowding results in a temperature drop. Fry in batches instead. The food will also become oilier. 

Generally, the fattier the cut of the meat, the longer it will take to cook. 

Here are the deep frying timings we use for each type of meat cut:

If you're frying chicken thighs, it will take about 4 to 5 minutes. If frying chicken breast, 3 to 4 minutes. Meanwhile, deep frying wings will take 6 to 7 minutes.

Use an air fryer or oven for a less oily version of our dish. Alternatively, use olive oil and shallow fry to deep fry. 

Using An Airfryer

For health-conscious people, you can still get crispy yet healthy Chinese lemon chicken - just use an air fryer. You will not need oil to fry the meat but spray a slight touch of oil for glossiness. 

Preheat the fryer for 2 to 3 minutes at 200°C (400°C degrees Fahrenheit) before adding the meat to the air fryer basket. We recommend cooking the meat for 30 minutes. However, make sure to flip the chicken at the halfway point (after 150 minutes). This is to ensure a crispy texture on all sides.

If you prefer a dish with less browning and less crisp, we recommend air frying at 190°C (375°F) for 20 minutes.

Using An Oven

You can choose to oven-bake Chinese lemon chicken. Without oil, baking does not add additional calories to the food. Due to the lack of oil, it will be slightly crisp but not as crunchy as the deep-frying method.

Another reason is that frying converts food starch to carcinogens, a cause of heart disease and cancer. Baking does not cause the same reaction. 

To bake Chinese lemon chicken, set the oven at 210°C (410°C degrees Fahrenheit) and cook for about 20-30 minutes.

Popularity

The dish was invented in Hong Kong and served in various Chinatown restaurants in Western countries. Yes, Chinese lemon chicken is actually not from China. The dish became popular because of its tangy sauce and fried bits due to Chinese immigrants customising Asian dishes to Western preferences.

While its origins are unknown, many cookbooks refer to it as a British or Canadian fusion dish. Adapted versions exist in Britain, Canada, America, and Australia.

This dish deserves a spot among the top selection of Chinese takeaway dishes. Other competing dishes include sweet and sour chicken balls and salt and pepper chicken. 

Enjoy your fried lemon chicken thighs or breasts, top them with white sesame seeds, and serve them with rice or chow mein. If you have tried it, show us your finger-licking good outcomes by tagging us on Instagram @honestfoodtalks.