Chicken Karaage: Japanese Fried Chicken Recipe

Fried chicken, whether it’s Southern, Japanese, or Korean, is one of my favourite foods of all time. Karaage, also known as Tatsutaage, is the Japanese version of fried chicken. Pronounced kah-rah-ah-geh, the name literally means “Tang fried” (Tang as in the Chinese dynasty). It’s one of those dishes that strike the perfect balance between flavor, texture and richness. 

Ingredients:

    ·         1 LB Boneless, skin on chicken thighs, cut into 1 inch cubes

    ·         2 Tablespoons soy sauce

    ·         1 Teaspoon sake

    ·         1 Teaspoon sugar

    ·         1 Tablespoon minced ginger

    ·         2 clove garlic, minced

    ·         ½ cup potato starch

    ·         High smoke point oil for deep frying

Method:

    1.      Mix together the chicken thighs, soy sauce, sake, sugar, ginger, and garlic in a bowl and let marinate for 30 minutes to an hour 1 hour at room temperature, in a slightly cool spot. Letting the chicken rest at room temp means that the chicken won’t drop the temperature of the oil, which means that it’ll cook up crispier. Also, it’ll cook faster than if you cook it cold from the fridge.

    2.      Prepare a wire cooling rack over a paper towel lined rimmed baking sheet. Heat up 1 1/2 inches of oil in a deep heavy bottomed pot until it reaches 325°F.

    3.      Place the potato starch in a bowl and, working in batches, coat several pieces of chicken, shaking off the excess potato starch. Use a pair of tongs to gently add the chicken to the hot oil. Fry until lightly golden, about 1 1/2 minutes.

    4.      Remove from the oil and let rest on your prepared wire rack. Repeat with the remaining chicken until all of it has been fried once.

    5.      Turn the heat up to 350°F and fry the chicken a second time around until deeply golden and crispy, another 1-2 minutes. Drain on the wire rack and enjoy hot with soya sauce, limes, and coriander.