What is karaage chicken (tori karaage)?
I first learned how to make karaage (kara a gee) chicken in a Japanese cooking class whilst living in Beijing. That was where I learned that coating things in flour or starch and frying until crispy was inspired by Chinese cooking and brought to Japan where it flourished. For this delicious influence, I must say thank you to China.
For me, karaage chicken is a necessary order at any Japanese restaurant. As a result of my constantly ordering and eating it, I consider myself a bit of a connoisseur of this delightful dish of Japanese fried chicken.
Chicken breast can be used for those so inclined but I found that boneless dark meat makes for the juiciest morsels. Whatever you choose, it’s fairly easy to throw together. Simply marinate it, coat it and fry it and you will have a tasty plateful of delectable chicken. Serve it on its own or with a big bowl of steaming ramen.
Karaage Chicken (Japanese Fried Chicken)
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: Serves 2-3 1x
Description
This karaage chicken recipe consists of boneless chicken meat marinated in garlic, ginger, soy sauce and cooking wine then dredged in cornstarch and fried.#chicken #japaneserecipes #fried
Ingredients
- 300–400 g (10.5 ~14 oz) boneless chicken thighs with skin
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 in/ 2 cm of ginger (washed and peeled)
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp cooking wine
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/4 cup flour
- Oil for frying
Instructions
- Puree ginger, garlic cloves, soy sauce and cooking wine together to make the marinade.
- Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces no larger than 1 in/2 cm long.
- Pour marinade mixture over chicken thighs along with salt and sugar. Toss to evenly coat, cover and let marinate in the refrigerator for an hour.
- In a separate bowl, mix together flour and cornstarch until evenly dispersed.
- Dredge marinated chicken in flour mixture.
- Heat a generous amount of frying oil in a large pan or wok over medium-high heat. You will know when the oil is hot enough for frying when you see sizzling when you add a drop of batter or dip the end of a wooden chopstick into the oil.
- When the oil is hot, add chicken and fry until golden brown and crispy on all sides. When chicken is nice and crispy, take out and drain on paper towels to soak up excess oil.
- Serve with lemon wedges, mayonnaise and shichimi togarashi powder.
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 20 min
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Frying
- Cuisine: Japanese
A plethora of fried chicken choices:
Ginger and Garlic Brined Spicy Fried Chicken
Extra Crispy and Spicy Malaysian Chicken Chop
Spicepaw’s Spicy Garlic Fried Chicken Wings
