Lemon Chicken

This is a nice, cheap and easy mid-week meal to prepare. Enjoy :)

Ingredients

2kg or 12 pieces chicken drumsticks (cut 2 slits on each side of the drumsticks to allow marinade to seep in)
¼ cup vegetable oil

Marinade

2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (Shao Xing wine)
3 tbsp light soya sauce

Coating

50g cornflour
25g rice flour

Lemon Sauce

1½ cups water
½ cup lemon juice
3½ tbsp brown sugar
2½ tbsp honey
2 tsp chicken stock granules or 1 chicken stock cube
2 tbsp cornflour
grated lemon zest from one lemon (or 1 tsp lemon essence)

Method

1. Marinate chicken with the soy sauce and Chinese cooking wine for at least 2 hours (best overnight) in a glass or ceramic dish. Turn the chicken occasionally to coat well in the marinade.
2. Combine rice flour and corn flour onto a large plate and coat chicken with the flour combination. Set aside for 15 minutes.
3. Heat a large frying pan over medium high heat, then add the vegetable oil.
   
4. Pan fry the chicken until cooked and golden brown. Set aside on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb excess oil.
5. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, add in all the lemon sauce ingredients and bring to the boil, then simmer gently, stirring frequently at all times (if lemon sauce is too thick, add a bit more water).
6. Place chicken onto serving plate. Pour sauce over chicken and serve immediately with rice.

Notes & Tips

Rolling a lemon back and forth on your work surface will soften it and allow for more juices to be extracted. This is a good technique to remember before squeezing out the juice of any citrus fruit.

To cook the chicken in the oven, coat chicken with self raising flour, place onto baking trays lined with baking paper, spray chicken with some olive oil then bake in a preheated oven (240°C) for approx. 30 minutes or until crisp and cooked through. Turn once halfway during cooking.