“Pei Wei’s” Lemon Pepper Chicken

One of my favorite things in life used to be “Bollywood Sunday” where I would order Lemon Pepper Chicken from Pei Wei and watch Bollywood films while drinking wine. Then it happened: Pei Wei took it off the menu, and damn them for doing such a heinous act. I don’t know why they would do such a thing, and even after several harshly-worded letters, they still haven’t brought it back. Then I moved to Seattle, a land where Pei Wei doesn’t even exist.

It was time to take matters into my own hands and figure out how to make it myself. I found a recipe for Lemon Pepper Shrimp similar to Pei Wei’s here, and then adapted it to use way less oil and chicken instead of shrimp.

And it was good, see? Behold:

I have never eaten the hell out of something so quickly.

The only thing slightly different than Pei Wei’s version is that I believe they deep-fry their chicken and this just sautees, so if you have a deep fryer you could probably give that a shot.

Ingredients: 1 Tablespoon peanut oil 4 garlic cloves, minced 1/3 Cup soy sauce 3/4 Cup water 2 Teaspoons cornstarch 1/4 Cup dark brown sugar 2 Teaspoons lemon juice An assload of ground black pepper (“assload” is a technical cooking term for “use a shitload.”)

For Chicken: Large chicken breast, butterflied into two pieces, then cut into small, 1-inch pieces 1/4 Cup cornstarch 2 tablespoons peanut oil Thin lemon slices, each cut into quarters

Garnish: 1 Teaspoon vegetable oil 2 Large green onions 1 Cup bean sprouts Salt, pepper to taste

Sauce: Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a wok or large saucepan over medium heat.  Sauté garlic for about 15 seconds until it is fragrant. Before garlic browns, add the soy sauce, then dissolve cornstarch in the water and add that to the pan. Add brown sugar, lemon juice and black pepper and bring mixture to a boil. Simmer for two minutes then remove it from the heat. 

Chicken: Coat chicken with the cornstarch and let sit while making sauce. Heat 2 tablespoons of peanut oil in a wok or large skillet over medium heat (If you don’t have a wok pan, get one, trust me.) Add chicken to pan and sauté until it browns. Remove chicken to paper towels to blot excess oil and dump out any oil remaining in the pan. Replace chicken back in the pan with the lemon slices, sauté for a minute,  then add the sauce to the pan. Toss everything around to coat and cook another minute or so until the sauce thickens. 

Garnish: While chicken is cooking, heat up 1 teaspoon of oil in a separate small skillet. Cut the green part of the green onions into 3″ lengths and add to hot oil along with salt and pepper. Sauté for a couple minutes until green onions begin to soften. 

Serve over brown rice and mentally flip off Pei Wei, because you can cook Lemon Pepper Chicken better than their honor student.