Long ago, the restaurant Big Bowl had a signature dish called Crispy Lemon Chicken. I’m pretty sure I ordered it about every time that we went there. Similarly, my wife always ordered the Feel Good Chicken Wonton Soup. While it’s no longer on the menu, here’s an at-home version that I think comes pretty darn close.
While you can absolutely use beef, chicken or pork in this recipe, I’ve chosen to go the vegetarian route and use my Crispy Tofu for this particular stir-fry dish. If you’ve made the tofu ahead of time, this should all come together rather quickly.
I’ve never seen the back-of-house of an Asian restaurant, but I’m guessing there are sacks of cornstarch all over the place. The cornstarch is what helps a sauce thicken down to that almost gravy-like consistency. Nearly every sauce in the Chinese culinary world (at least the Americanized versions) owe their sticky, viscous qualities to that wonderful slurry of cornstarch and water.
So this dish will be no different. Start with a flavorful (chicken or vegetable) stock and give it a healthy amount of fresh squeezed lemon juice. A little garlic and ginger for extra flavor and then honey and brown sugar for some sweetness. Add this to your vegetables in a hot pan and it’ll reduce down to super tasty sauce.
I like to wait and add the crispy tofu pieces at the very end so that the tofu doesn’t get soggy.
- 1 Cup Flavorful Stock
- 1 Tablespoon Corn Starch
- 1/2 Cup Lemon Juice
- 2 Teaspoons Ginger
- 2 Teaspoons Garlic
- 1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Honey
- 1 Teaspoon Soy Sauce
- 1/2 White Onion
- 2 Cups Steamed Broccoli
- 1 Block Crispy Tofu Reference my other recipe
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Warm the stock and dissolve the corn starch to make the slurry
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Mix in the lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of the ginger, 1 teaspoon of the garlic, brown sugar, honey and soy sauce
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In a wok, or large pan, saute the onions in a small amount of oil for about 5 minutes
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Add the steamed broccoli, remaining garlic & ginger and saute for another 3-5 minutes
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Add the lemon sauce, bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to begin reducing it. As it reduces, it will begin to thicken
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The sauce will take about 10 minutes to thicken, depending on how quickly you boil it
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Just before you pull the dish to plate it, add the tofu to coat it with the sauce.
It's true, you can't make a good Asian stir fry without the cornstarch! Looks good, Tony. 🙂 My recent post 10 Minute Chocolate Fudge Topping
Thanks, Rachael! I used to be anti-slurry….but I'm coming around to seeing their value in cranking up the sauce in a stir-fry.
tasty recipe My recent post Crispy Chicken Spring Roll with Boiled Eggs
Excellent, followed the recipe exactly. Baked the tofu. My 5 yr. old grandson loved it also. New to your blog. Have shared it with friends. Thanks again.