I saw somewhere on google making lemon chicken a week ago. Today, I am trying out from memory. In addition to lemon roast chicken, I am adding onion fried eggs, and buk choy. The picture above is mine. I must have chili; using the chili my mom gave me with soy sauce. I seldom roast the whole chicken to eat by myself: as it will be a waste, but have done it during festival occasions.

I am having my parents and my sister over for dinner. They had requested Chinese meal. I had to change it with fried onion egg and buk choy instead of potato and roasted vegetables. My sister brought cooked rice. I read somewhere to roast the whole chicken it needs “rinsing and dabbing it dry. You want your chicken skin to be as dry as possible so it gets crispy while it roasts (and the seasoning will stick better).”

Google: “Bok choy (American English, Canadian English, and Australian English), pak choi (British English, South African English, and Caribbean English) or pok choi is a type of Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa subsp. chinensis) cultivated as a leaf vegetable to be used as food. Varieties do not form heads and have green leaf blades with lighter bulbous bottoms instead, forming a cluster reminiscent of mustard greens. Its flavour is described as being between spinach and water chestnuts but slightly sweeter, with a mildly peppery undertone. The green leaves have a stronger flavour than the white bulb. Along with being crunchy and delicious, bok choy is full of fiber, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that make it a beneficial addition to your diet. Like other dark, leafy greens, it’s full of antioxidants and other compounds that help to promote better health.”

I am glad that the lemon roast chicken goes well with Chinese vegetables. My parents love the lemon chicken. Let’s cook!!!

Ingredients

1 whole chicken about 2kg
salt
black pepper
1 large lemon
1/2 onion
1 whole bulb of garlic, broken into cloves
a handful of fresh thyme
1 Tbs garlic minced
2 Tbs softened butter
olive oil

Fried onion eggs
4 eggs
1 small onion, sliced
1/8 Tsp sugar (OPT)
oil
salt
pepper

Buk choy

4 bunches buk choy
1 Tbs garlic minced
1 Tbs oyster sauce
1 Tbs Shao Xing Chinese cooking wine
1/2 Tbs water
1 Tsp soy sauce
oil
salt
pepper

Method

Lemon roast chicken

Zest the yellow rind of the lemon. Cut the lemon in half and juice half of the lemon into a small bowl. Add the rind, olive oil, softened butter, garlic, salt and pepper. Stir well (the mixture should be fairly thick). Rub the chicken inside and out with a generous amount of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Gently lift the skin from the chicken breasts and place about 1 tablespoon of the butter mixture under the skin. Massage it evenly across the breasts. 

Cover the skin of the chicken with the remaining butter mixture. Then cover the chicken and leave in the fridge until for 30-45 minutes. Preheat oven 190 degrees C.  Take the chicken out of the fridge, and rub it all over with oil. Push the garlic cloves, thyme into the cavity, and slice the remaining lemon half and place it inside the chicken along with 1/2 onion. Tie the legs together (OPT). Place the chicken in a roasting pan breast side up and place in oven. Roast in the preheated oven for 1 ¼ hours or until the chicken is cooked. (You can tell the chicken is cooked when the thigh meat pulls easily away from the bone and the juices run clear.)

Remove the chicken to a plate. Then remove the lemon and garlic from inside the chicken, squeeze all the garlic flesh out of the skin, mush it up and smear it all over the chicken, discard the lemon and thyme. Chopped into bite size. Some lovely fat should have cooked out of it into the roasting tray, so, spoon it onto the chicken pieces. Set aside in a tented foil in the warm oven.

Fried onion eggs

Beat eggs lightly. Season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in saucepan on medium heat. Then add onion for 1-3 minutes until soft and translucent. Remove from saucepan into a bowl, set aside. Now pour the eggs in. Let it cook at the bottom for 1-2 minutes.

Scatter onion all over the eggs. Cover with lid for 1-2 minutes. Then flip over using metal spatula and a plastic spatula. Cook a further 1-3 minutes, without lid. It will be cooked as the bottom part is already cooked. Switch off hob and leave the eggs in for a further 30 seconds. Transfer to plate and set aside with a tented foil.

Cook buk choy

Trim the bottoms off of each bundle of bok choy, and split them in half or quarters. Just make sure all of the pieces are relatively uniform so they cook evenly. Wash thoroughly with cold water two to three times. These days, we’re never too cautious about making sure all of the dirt and pesticides are rinsed away. The best method is to use a large basin or sink to rinse and swirl around the vegetables letting them soak for a few minutes before draining and washing again. Shake off the excess water after the final rinse and transfer to a colander to drain. It is important to drain the vegetables well since these veggies will release quite a bit of water during the cooking process.

Using the same saucepan for onion eggs. Heat 2 Tbs oil on medium heat. Swirl around the oil so saucepan is coated. Add all of the garlic and immediately add the bok choy. Move quickly to stir and cook the greens in the oil and garlic. Stir quickly so you don’t burn the garlic!

Use a folding motion to turn the vegetables or use tongs if that is easier. Once the vegetables begin to wilt, about 30 seconds, add salt, pepper, and sugar if using. How long you cook them from here is all personal preference. Put both the sauces, Shao Xing wine and water in a bowl, mixing well. Then pour into the buk choy until thickened. about 30 seconds to 1 minute. I like to cook buk choy a bit longer about 2-3minutes this including the sauce mixture; for a softer texture while my family like them a little bit more crisp. Plate and serve immediately with roast lemon chicken, fried onion eggs and rice.

Note: I would place my roasted chicken back into the warm oven. If you want microwave them a bit about 1-3 minutes. So too for the onion eggs if it had gone cold. Microwave them for 1-2 minutes. I have added cut chili with soy sauce to my plate. You don’t have to add cut chili and soy sauce.

https://helenscchin.com/2017/02/28/lemon-roast-chicken-onion-eggs-buk-choy-with-rice/

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