Japanese Crispy Fried Chicken - Kara-Age

Submitted by Ume Murasaki

"This is a classic Japanese Kara-age recipe. Chicken is juicy on the inside and crispy on the outside. Use dark meat such as thigh meat (and if possible skin attached) to get the juiciest fried chicken! You may use corn starch instead of potato starch if it's difficult to find in your area."

 

• Ready In: 40mins
• Ingredients: 8
• Serves: 4-6

ingredients

• 1 lb boneless chicken thighs
• 1⁄2 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
• 1 -2 clove, of freshly grated galic
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sake (Japanese rice wine)
• ground black pepper, for additional spiciness
• 1 cup potato starch, to dust
• vegetable oil (for frying)

directions

1. Cut chicken in bite size pieces. In a plastic container or large ziploc bag, combine grated ginger, garlic, soy sauce and Sake.
2. Put the chicken in the marinade and mix chicken well. Put the chicken in the fridge for 15 to 20 minutes.
3. In a deep frying pan or a wok, heat vegetable oil to 180 degree Celsius or 350°F
4. Dust the chicken with potato starch and fry in the oil until golden. To make them really crispy, lift chicken from the oil with chopsticks or tongs from time to time so that the chicken will be aired out (so to speak).

Reviews

[daniel b.]

I made this and it was so good. It needed some salt but other than that it was great. I cooked for 3 minutes, let it sit for 5 minutes and cooked again for another minute. I also made a sauce which consisted of 1/2 cup mayo, 3Tbs of light corn syrup, 2 Tbs spicy mustard, a few sprinkles of sugar and 3Tbs soy sauce. It was very tasty. Thanks.

 

[Krystal F.]

Great recipe! Just like the karaage I get from the local Japanese store in Vancouver. I haven't found any restaurants that do it like this. Juicy and tasty! You really need the potato starch to do it correctly (I found some at Whole Foods). I would recommend garnishing with little wedges of lemon. Adds the perfect zip when squeezed onto the fried chicken. I've made this twice--once deep-fried and once shallow-fried. They turned out the same, so I will shallow-fry from now on to avoid using insane amounts of oil. Thank you!

 

[Ames L.]

Followed the recipe to the letter and it turned out awesome. Thanks!!!

 

[rozzie1154]

Excellent recipe! I added about 1 tsp sesame oil to the marinade. Used corn starch, as I was out of Katakuriko (potato starch). Deep fried the marinaded chicken pieces about 90 seconds. Took them out and placed them on a wire rack. After I deep fried the whole batch, I deep fried them again for about 45 seconds. Came out crispy on the outside and juicy inside. Tastes better when it's hot. But, cold was okay too.

 

[The Spice Guru]

This is delicious -- absolutely delicious, and I thank you for your flawless recipe!