Dukan Lemon Chicken

Lemon Chicken

We love lemony-tart things.   Ponzu sauce, a citrusy soy based sauce is used often in our kitchen....we used to add a few drops of chili oil to some ponzu sauce for a gyoza dipping sauce, noodle dipping sauce, etc.  The following recipe is very tart, you can add more honey or a natural sweetener of your choice to sweeten it up to your taste.

It was just fine for us, but here in Hawaii we're also used to eating something called Lemon Peel which is very tart/sour (a preserved lemon) and when we complain of sore throats, our aunties always give us a different kind of preserved lemons to eat.

We used Closet Cooking's Orange Chicken recipe as a base for our Lemon Chicken.  We also were given a couple Meyer Lemons (we only needed on) which tastes like a cross between a lemon and a mandarin orange for this recipe.

We've used sesame oil during the Consolidation Phase in moderation...meaning, not ever week and not a whole lot.  Sesame oil is very strong, often time you need 1/2 t. or less for your recipe.  If you prefer not to use it, make the necessary adjustments including not using honey if you wish and replacing that with natural sweetener.

RECIPE:
Serves 2
Prep Time: 5-10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes

1 lb. chicken thighs or breast, boneless/skinless, cut into bite sized pieces, we used thighs with the fat removed
1/4 c. freshly-squeezed Meyer Lemon
1/4. c. chicken broth
1 T. soy sauce
1 T. Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
1 T. rice vinegar
1 T. honey
1/2 t. sesame oil
1/4 t. pepper
2 t. cornstarch
1/2 to 1 t. crushed red pepper or 2 red chilies sliced into thin slices
2 cloves garlic, mined
1 inch ginger, grated
2 green onions, chopped
1 T. lemon zest

Mix the lemon juice, broth, soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil, rice vinegar, honey, pepper and cornstarch.  Taste, add natural sweetener if it's too tart for you.  Set aside.

Heat pan over high heat, spray pan with a little bit of non-stick spray.  Add chicken and stir fry until almost done.  Set chicken aside.  Lower heat to medium-high, when pan has cooled down a bit, spray pan again, add the chilies, garlic and ginger.  Saute until fragrant, a minute or so.  Add the lemon mixture, chicken and the lemon zest and cook until it thickens, a few minutes.  Add green onions, mix well and serve.  The male half of this couple had this over rice, the female half had it plain.  We also used some of the lemon juice from the fruit (not the mixture) on the asparagus spears.  Asparagus was 99 cents per pound this week at Safeway!  Regular price here in Hawaii is usually around $5.99 per pound, on sale it goes down to $2.99 per pound.  So, the asparagus - simple, heat a grill pan, spray with non-stick spray.  Add cleaned asparagus, sprinkle black pepper and adobo seasoning on them.  Squeeze some lemon juice over the asparagus, cook to your liking.  We usually grill ours approximately 3 minutes on each side until they become bright green and still crisp.

Enjoy...we sure did!