Chinese Lemon Chicken (Paleo, Gluten Free)

Chinese Lemon Chicken (Paleo, Gluten Free)

“Are you gathering twigs together?”, asked my husband when I mentioned my urge to clean and organize this week. It is that time in every woman’s pregnancy when you just go into this mode to prepare for the new arrival. I don’t really have anything ready but this is not my first rodeo so I’m sure we will manage. I did give the house a good clean yesterday, which it desperately needed. I accomplished this even with a nosey toddler trying to get in to everything I was doing.

love this face

love this face

Sometimes I feel like my heart will just burst from joy when I see her little face light up at the smallest things. I struggle a little with worrying about how I will cope with two babies in a few months and whether I will fail both of them by not giving enough of myself to them. But I’m not the first woman to have two young babies under two, I’m sure things will be fine.

Julia Child’s long, involved recipes might need to take a back burner but I am thankful for good old-fashioned Chinese cooking that can turn out dishes in very little time. The famous lemon chicken is one of these. My family would smirk and laugh at me if I wanted to order this in a restaurant because well, it’s “for westerners”. I always shrug them off because frankly, I really like this dish and I don’t care what other Chinese people think 😉

Here’s a version you can make at home free from MSG, soy, gluten and YELLOW FOOD COLORING (yuck)!

Slice some chicken up and marinate in the marinade sauce for 10 minutes.

Chinese Lemon Chicken (Paleo, Gluten Free)

 

You can prepare the sauce ingredients in a separate bowl in the meantime.

Chinese Lemon Chicken (Paleo, Gluten Free)

 

Coat your chicken pieces in some tapioca flour and fry in a large skillet with the fat of your choice until golden and cooked.

Chinese Lemon Chicken (Paleo, Gluten Free)

 

Drain your chicken over some paper towels.

Chinese Lemon Chicken (Paleo, Gluten Free)Leaving 1 TBSP of fat in the skillet, cook the sauce until it is thick and bubbly.

Chinese Lemon Chicken (Paleo, Gluten Free)

 

Add the chicken back and stir to combine. You can also squeeze some more lemon juice now for extra tanginess.

Chinese Lemon Chicken (Paleo, Gluten Free)

 

Get it while it’s hot!

Chinese Lemon Chicken (Paleo, Gluten Free)

 

You’ll need:

  • 1 lb chicken, sliced 
  • 1/2 cup tapioca flour
  • 1/2 cup Fat of your choice for frying (Avocado oil, coconut oil, bacon grease)
  • Extra lemon juice to finish
  • Marinade:
    • 1/2 tsp sea salt
    • 1/2 TBSP dry sherry
    • 1/2 TBSP coconut aminos
    • 1 TBSP tapioca flour
    • 1 TBSP cold water
    • 1 egg yolk
  • Sauce:
    • 2 TBSP raw honey
    • 1 TBSP freshly squeezed lemon juice
    • 3 TBSP chicken stock
    • 1/2 tsp sea salt
    • 1 tsp tapioca flour
    • 1 tsp sesame oil
  1.  Combine marinade ingredients and marinate chicken for 10-15 minutes. Then coat in tapioca flour.
  2. Heat up fat of your choice in a large skillet and fry chicken pieces until golden and cooked through
  3. Drain chicken and drain skillet except for 1 TBSP of fat
  4. Combine sauce ingredients and cook in skillet until sauce is thick and bubbly
  5. Add chicken back to skillet and stir until all pieces are covered
  6. Optionally, squeeze some more fresh lemon juice over chicken for an extra tangy taste

Comments

  1. Emma looks adorable there. Thanks for sharing this simple yet wonderful dish. 🙂 I hope things are going quite swell with the preparations. I have a good feeling that all things will be alright in the end.

  2. Man, that looks delicious!

  3. I have had two babies in 13 months (and two in 15 months, and two in 18 months, and two more in 18 months) and I can assure you that love multiplies! It doesn’t divide… Each baby won’t get half the love… They will each have a full portion!

    Thank you for the recipe… It looks SO good.

    • Thank you Heather <3 I really appreciate the advice of the experienced! It gives me hope that people have successfully navigated it and that I should be able to as well.

      I hope you like the lemon chicken!

  4. Hi! Is the chicken stock podwer or liquid? Thanks 😀

  5. This recipe is sooooooo good, thank you so much for sharing, and yes along with what Heather said, I’ve had 4 children in 4 1/2 years, and it is so much fun and i’ve never felt divided between then:)

  6. Delicious, thank you for the recipe! While making it I was skeptical that the marinade and sauce would be “enough” – didn’t look like much, but it was plenty. Superb flavor.

  7. This was a hit with the family tonight. I used coconut oil as fat and arrowroot flour instead of tapioca flour which I didn’t have on hand. It was very yummy. I will definitely make this again. Thanks!

  8. Soooo yummy! Best GF/Paleo dinner I’ve ever made 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing!

  9. I know I’m super late to the party – I’ve had this pinned for aaaaaaages and finally made it last night; OMG WHYYYYYYYYY have I not made this recipe sooner?! I was blown away by how good it tasted and how easy it was to make! Thank you SO much!!

  10. Priscilla Attard says

    Receipt looks great! Thanks for sharing. Could you kindly let me know the marinade ingredients please? Because there are the bullets of the list but I can not see the ingredients of the marinade.Thanks so much

  11. Would you recommend chicken breast, or thighs for this recipe? Thanks!

  12. Wow! This was delicious!!!! it got nice and sticky, and was great with some steamed broccoli. I will be making this again FOR SURE!