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!