Spicy Lemon Chicken & Purple Sticky Rice

This isn't a recipe I got somewhere, it's something I kind of improvised based on ingredients I had on hand and several citrus chicken recipes I found online.



Actually, I had lemons and oranges, debated and decided on the lemons. I might make a spicy orange beef next time I'm making Chinese takeout.



I had saved some tempura chicken from last night's General Tso's, but of course it was pretty limp stuff after being in a baggie in the fridge. No problem, I just hit them with a couple minutes in the peanut oil and they crisped right up. Maybe better than before, if a little darker in color.



I was out of fresh broccoli, but I did have a green bell pepper.

Spicy Lemon Chicken
I refer you to my March 11 post, where I made General Tso's Chicken for the first time to get the tempura chicken thing going. As I say, I had some already done for this.
Sauce:
1 cup Chicken Broth
About 1/2 cup Palm Sugar
4 cloves minced Garlic
2 tbsp. minced Ginger
2 oz. Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice (two lemon's worth)
2 oz. Rice Vinegar
2 oz. Soy Sauce
2 oz. Rice Wine
2 tbsp. Sesame Oil
1 tsp. White Pepper
1 tsp. Black Pepper
1 tsp. Cayenne Pepper
Combine and allow to sit 45 minutes to an hour to dissolve the palm sugar.

Rice:
Bring a quart of chicken broth to a boil, add 2 cups Purple Sticky Rice, cover, reduce heat and steam 45 minutes until done.

Bringing it All Together
2 tbsp. Oil
6-8 dried Thai peppers
1 Green Bell Pepper, cut in 1" pieces
2 bunches Green Onions, cut in 1" pieces
Zest of 2 Lemons
1/4 cup corn starch with enough water to make a slurry
Get the oil hot in the wok, add the red peppers, onion and green bell peppers; after stirring until the greens are bright, add sauce; keep moving, adding slurry when it comes to a boil. After it thickens (which it does almost instantly), add chicken and lemon zest, tossing until coated, serve with steamed rice.

Everything moves pretty fast once you start the wok business up, so have your slurry ready & everything close at hand. Voice of experience, I burned a few things before I learned to prep almost like I'd have to for a cooking show.






Again, going on availability: I was out of brown Basmati rice, but I had some Purple Sticky Rice on hand. It's really this black going into the pot, and it really does have a purple tinge to it. It's one of my favorite rices, incredibly aromatic and flavorful.



It's always a gamble when you try a new recipe, especially just winging it like this. But sometimes gambles pay off, and this one did, big time. Huge lemon aroma, tart flavor with enough heat to keep the sweet & sour part from taking over completely. I was really skeptical that I'd get this much obvious lemon flavor with that pitiful little bit of shavings off the peel of the fruit, but you could probably get away with the zest of just one fruit. You could probably get away with upping the sugar a bit, as well, though I think I like that little bit of tang it's got.