The Best Lemon Sauce. A versatile, tangy, sweet and sour type sauce for Chinese food, grilled chicken, fish, shrimp, or even pork!
A great alternative to Sweet and Sour Sauce for Chinese Chicken Balls.
Isn’t it strange sometimes, when you experience something really bad, it instantly reminds you of something much better?
Such was the case a couple of months back when we were putting together a takeout order for Chinese food for a large family gathering. It’s something we do on occasion, especially when visiting family out of town.
The Best Lemon Sauce. So versatile.
Yes, even I sometimes don’t want to spend my time cooking on those occasions, and will pick up a meal to share along the way instead. Better to spend time catching up than in the kitchen sometimes.
We like to balance the dishes in a good Chinese food order to make sure there is something for everyone. Normally we like to include a chicken, a pork and a seafood dish for variety.
That other lemon sauce!
In this order was a lemon shrimp and stir fried veggie dish that we tried for the first time. The shrimp were not overcooked, the veggies still had good bite to them, but the lemon sauce was just downright awful.
It reminded me if the cheap pink slime that’s passed off as cherry sauce far too often. I always avoid that.
This lemon sauce was basically a yellow version of the same thing with barely any lemon flavour at all. It was very gluey in texture as well, likely from being over thickened by cornstarch.
Let the sauce simmer for only a couple of minutes after adding the cornstarch slurry.
The Best Lemon Sauce. Copyright Barry C. Parsons. Permalink: https://rockrecipes.com/the-best-lemon-sauce/
The Best Lemon Sauce I had was on vacation.
During one of my visits to NYC quite a number if years ago, we had an incredible Crispy Spicy Lemon Chicken with noodles that I still remember well. The also did an incredible burnt orange sauce with beef.
The crispy chicken was tossed in the lemon sauce, much like a Captain’s Chicken or General Tso’s Chicken dish. I must try my own version if that soon.
The terrible lemon sauce made me think instantly of the superior one, and I made a mental note to try to replicate it here in Rock Recipes.
Chinese Chicken Balls.
Since I was reshooting our recent Chinese Chicken Balls recipe, I decided to try to make it as an alternative to our other new recipe for Sweet and Sour Sauce.
I was very pleased with the result. It had plenty depth of flavour because I used our homemade chicken stock as a base along with a hit if garlic and plenty of lemon zing both from lemon juice and lemon zest.
The Best Lemon Sauce.
I used the leftovers on some grilled chicken the next day and threw in a couple if shrimp as well. It was perfectly delicious with both.
Give it a try and check back soon, I may just give thar crispy lemon chicken a go from that memorable New York restaurant.
Adding a little yellow colour is optional. I did this time because the stock used was pretty dark.
On the topic of Chinese takeout recipes, I thought I’d add my guide to my TOP TEN Asian Cooking Ingredients to keep on hand.
Hoisin Sauce is one of the best and most versatile Asian cooking ingredients to have on hand at all times.
This recipe also makes use of some basic Asian cooking ingredients that I always keep in the fridge or cupboard. My TOP TEN Asian cooking ingredients that I always try to have on hand are:
- Hoisin sauce
- Fish sauce
- Toasted sesame oil
- Ginger root. ( I keep mine in the freezer and then easily grate it frozen)
- Rice wine vinegar.
- Five Spice powder.
- Low sodium soy sauce (recommended for all my recipes that call for it)
- Oyster Sauce
- Sesame seeds
- Crushed chili paste ( sambal oelek or similar)
Roasted cashew nuts are another ingredient I like to garnish some Asian dishes with, both for great flavour and added crunchy texture.
Need more Chinese Takeout ideas?
We have an entire collection of great recipes. Some that we’ve used for years and some brand new ones too. Be sure to check them all out in our Chinese Takeout at Home Collection!
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The Best Lemon Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
- juice of 2 lemons (1/2 cup minimum)
- zest of one lemon, very finely minced
- 1/3 cup honey, or to taste
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup water to create a thickening slurry
- yellow food colouring (optional)
Instructions
- Bring all if the ingredients except the cornstarch and water to a gentle boil for about 5 minutes.
- Slowly add the cornstarch slurry, stirring constantly to prevent lumps.
- Simmer for only 2 or 3 minutes more to ensure the sauce is properly thickened to the right consistency.
- Serve immediately.
Nutrition Information
Yield
8Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 69Total Fat 1gSaturated Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 0gCholesterol 1mgSodium 204mgCarbohydrates 16gFiber 1gSugar 10gProtein 1g
The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.