One of the things I missed most when going vegan was Chinese Lemon chicken. So once I found a recipe that I loved I had to share it. There have been a few changes in this recipe that have helped to make it vegan. Firstly I have used oyster mushrooms for there lovely texture. Secondly I have used the honea as a sweetener for the lemon sauce. The batter is based on a recipe by the hairy bikers and the lemon sauce is adapted from a recipe by Chef John Zhang
Vegan Lemon ‘chickn’
Ingredients
- 175 g Oyster Mushrooms
Marinade
- 200 ml Plant milk
- 100 ml Water
- ¼ tsp Yeast extract
- 1 tbsp Soy sauce
- ¼ tsp Miso
- ¼ Vegetable stock cube
Batter Dry Ingredients
- 1 tbsp Corn flour
- 3 tbsp Plain flour
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Baking powder
Batter Dry Ingredients
- 30 g Corn flour
- 120 g Plain flour
- 100 ml Vodka
- 100 ml Water
- ½ tsp Baking powder
- ½ tsp Salt (fine)
Lemon Sauce
- 3 Lemons
- 1 Lemon Rind (from 1 large lemon)
- 1 tbsp Rice Vinegar (or white vinegar)
- 2.5 tbsp Sugar
- 2 tbsp Honea
- 1 tsp Corn flour/starch
- 1 tsp Custard Powder
- Pinch Salt
Instructions
Marinade (Optional)
- Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix. Once fully incorporated pour over the oyster mushrooms and allow to marinade for an hour.
- After an hour pat dry the oyster mushrooms with kitchen paper.
Lemon Sauce
- Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and fully incorporate.
- Pour the mixture into a pot or small frying pan and heat slowly on a medium heat. Cook for around 5 minutes or until the lemon sauce has thickened. If you prefer a thicker sauce then gradually add more corn flour. (When adding the corn flour make sure to mix with water first in a 1:1 ratio)
Batter & Cooking
- Mix the ingredients for the dry batter in a bowl.
- Now dip the marinated and dried oyster mushrooms into the flour mixture. Cover the oyster mushrooms completely, making sure to shake off any excess flour. Now put to one side. (This step is important as this helps the batter to stick to the oyster mushrooms.
- Mix the ingredients for the WET batter in a separate bowl.
- Pour some oil in a fryer, large saucepan or wok, making sure not to fill beyond half way. Heat the oil to 160C. (CAUTION: hot oil can be dangerous. Do not leave unattended.)
- Once the oil has reached the required temperature, dip the flour covered oyster mushrooms into the WET batter, allowing any excess batter to drip back into the bowl. Once they are covered carefully put them into the hot oil slowly Fry them for 8-10 minutes, they should still be pale in color. Take them out of the oil and allow to drain and cool on kitchen paper.
- Now heat the oil up to 190C for a second fry to get them extra crunchy.
- When the oil has reached the required temperature fry the oyster mushrooms for another 2 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oil and allow to drain on kitchen paper. Serve with lemon sauce and rice.
