Thursday, December 17, 2009

Citrus Chicken Ribs 柑橘雞排


If there is one Chinese dish that needs an urgent makeover, it has to be lemon chicken! Unlike the lemon chicken we have at home which is basically fried chicken with a thin lemon glaze, restaurants all over the world are serving different versions of chicken in a thick batter covered with a thick gluggy yellow sauce. I decided to make a citrus sauce instead and the result was more than satisfactory.
Ask for chicken spareribs next time you are at an Asian butcher; the meat is the most juicy and tender cut of the chicken, otherwise use wings or maryland.
P.S there will be a makeover for black bean beef and sweet and sour pork too, so stay tuned!

Serves 4 as part of a Chinese meal;
you'll need;
1 kg of chicken ribs or wings, cut into manageable pieces.
oil for frying
spring onion as garnish
3 thin slices of each citrus

for the chicken marinate;
1 egg
2 tbs of corn flour
2 tbs of Chinese cooking wine
2 tbs of light soy
2 tbs of oyster sauce
1 tbs of grated ginger
dash of white pepper

for the sauce;
2 tbs of lime juice
2 tbs of lemon juice (use 6 tbs of lemon juice for lemon chicken)
2 tbs of orange juice
4 to 6 tbs of sugar
12 tbs of water or chicken stock
2 tsp of corn flour

Remove excess fat from the chicken ribs, see how the skin without the layer of fat is kept. Keep the fat as I'll be showing you how to render chicken fat

Marinate chicken overnight or at least 2 hours.

Add sweet potato flour and mix well just before frying.

Fry chicken pieces til golden brown. drain well.

Heat the sauce in a pan til syrupy and add in the chicken to coat.

Serve as part of a Chinese meal or it is wonderful as a beer snack!

43 comments:

  1. Lovely pictures!
    http://padhuskitchen.blogspot.com/

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  2. Harriet from CarltonDecember 17, 2009 at 9:19 PM

    Looks very tasty and that is a good makeover :)

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  3. Love the citrus-flavoured dish....well-presented!

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  4. I think this is more interesting than the normal lemon chicken, how do you prepare the spring onion garnish?

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  5. Hey mate this makeover is great, we are sick of the gluggy yellow sauce too haha!

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  6. Phudu,
    Thanks!

    Harriet,
    Thanks! give it a try!

    Angie,
    Thank you, thank you :)

    Anonymous,
    Thanks! I'll post that over the weekend, it's very easy.

    fitzboy,
    Thanks! Give it a try, it's just a light glaze on the still crisp chicken.

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  7. Wow! You certainly know how to make readers drool at 9:30 in the morning!

    This looks and sounds delicious!

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  8. Chinese style sounds interesting...

    Lemon chicken is a long time due' for me...thanks for giving me an idea for dinner:)

    I like your clicks...the presentation is awesome.

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  9. Oh I like the sound of the citrus sauce! Why haven't they replaced the yellow sauce with this? Nice photos.

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  10. Oh yum! I so agree. What is with the sweet and sour flour balls with gristle? Please make them over soon :) Judging by this chicken, they'll be awesome.

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  11. Sounds fantastic with citrus flavors, awesome!

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  12. Jennie,
    Haha thanks! Bit early for fried chicken no?

    Malar Gandhi,
    Thanks! Do let me know if you try it :)

    Mary,
    Thanks! I have no idea too :(

    shaz,
    Thanks! The problem is people want to eat the rubbish :(. Will do that soon.

    5 star foodie,
    Thanks! :)

    Rebecca,
    Thanks! It turned out really well :)

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  13. Nice pics..Sounds great and looks mouthwatering

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  14. WOW! Another wonderful dish makes me mouth watering...

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  15. This is a great makeover! I haven't had lemon chicken for ages, your citrus sauce sounds great! :)

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  16. I learn something today! Chicken ribs, will definitely try them out!

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  17. whoa, this looks incredible. I'm hungry and wish I had some right now.

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  18. love it!!!! i will try this sunday!!

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  19. Beautiful picture and looks very delicious. Any lemony dish is my favourite....mmm

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  20. You have done it again! Lovely dish!

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  21. This looks so good. The recipes sounds so flavorful too! Yummm!

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  22. You say Citrus chicken ... I say Lemon chicken .. tsk tsk hungry tummies ... where's the beef and black beans or the sweet and sour ... Just kidding!!!

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  23. Sarah,
    Thanks! still trying to work out how he camera works :)

    Anncoo,
    Thanks! :) Try some.

    BIBI,
    Thanks! I'm glad with the result too.

    Kenny,
    I hope you can find that cut in HK.

    kothiyavunu ,
    Thanks! you'll have to make some haha!

    阿ta,
    Thanks and let me know how it turn out.

    MaryMoh ,
    Thanks at least you can get lemon easily over there :)

    Michele,
    Thanks :)

    Lyndsey,
    Thank you, give it a try :)

    Temasek,
    Haha very funny :) I'll cook the other 2 dishes next week so get your wok ready.

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  24. Wow this is new, this is different and I like!

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  25. oh yum, chicken ribs. They are so yummy to eat with a cold beer. I love your adaptation of lemon chicken!

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  26. 用柑橘來代替很有新鮮感!棒!

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  27. You are such a talented cook! I'm enticed by the bright flavors in the sauce, and you need not persuade me about the chicken - I love fried chicken.

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  28. Brilliant makeover! My Dad always orders Lemon Chicken when we get takeaway Chinese, and occasionally I'll try some but it is often just too much hard work to find any meat amongst the batter and fat.

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  29. Lemon chicken gives Chinese food such bad names and you have done a wonderful job here, can't wait to see your version of black bean beef and sweet and sour pork :)

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  30. Maria,
    Thanks :) I think I need to make some for Sunday when friends are over for beer .

    大肥 ,
    一定要更新!:)要試試呀!

    Fresh Local and Best,
    Oh thank you :) I have yet to meet anyone that dislike fried chicken yet :)

    Conor,
    Thanks! I knew there will be someone like you that share my sorrow.

    Chen,
    Thank you! I think lemon chicken should be banned unless they stop using artificial lemon sauce :) black bean beef and sweet and sour pork on the way :)

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  31. Job well done! I think I like the idea of the light glaze very much yummy!

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  32. love to eat,
    Thanks, make sure you make this and it will be a hit with your boys :)

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  33. This lemon chicken looks delicious:)) I will try it!

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  34. Found your site thru FoodBuzz & this dish looks really good :) Looking fwd to your comments too @ http://luxuryhaven.blogspot.com!

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  35. Hey, this make over dish looks really great. I would prefer thisto the bright yellow sauce version.

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  36. Wow!Those look fantastic! Great flavor!

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  37. To be honest, I don't know when was the last time I had this.. looks good!!! You are a great cook!!

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  38. Blackswan,
    Thank you, I'll do that :)

    CheapAppetite ,
    Thank you, good bye yellow sauce!!

    Erica,
    Thank you!!

    mycookinghut,
    Thank you :) make some soon !

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  39. I know I would love this infinitely more than the take-out version. Who needs that thick sickeningly sweet sauce? This looks like a much better alternative.

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  40. never heard of chicken ribs..."please exploin"

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  41. I'm guessing that by 3 thin slices of each citrus, you mean orange, lemon and lime. There are many more citruses, you know.

    Anyway, I'm glad you referred to this as "Chinese style" rather than "Chinese".

    I'm in China and can't make your recipe as is. Limes are virtually unknown and lemons aren't common other than in the south.

    And I have no idea what "chicken ribs" are.

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