Chicken Karaage (Tori no Karaage- 鶏の唐揚げ)
唐揚げ(karaage) is a Japanese cooking technique where an ingredient or protein is lightly coated with flour and deep-fried. It’s most commonly done with chicken, hence the 鶏(tori) in Tori no Karaage- 鶏の唐揚げ means chicken to denote that this is a chicken karaage.
What makes Japanese fried chicken different from other fried chicken recipes is that generally thigh pieces (breast can be used but not recommended) are cut into small pieces before being marinated in generally a mixture of soy, mirin, cooking sake and ginger before dusting in traditionally potato flour and frying until golden. In my opinion it’s an easier fried chicken to make at home because you’re using thigh, which soaks in flavours and retains more moisture than say a breast which you can run the risk of drying out when frying. Also the small boneless pieces means you don’t need to fry for as long, so it’s a faster fried chicken recipe to make at home.
In addition, what sets karaage apart from other frying techniques is the use of double frying; once to make sure the protein is fully cooked before frying once more for colour and crunch.
Whilst you can enjoy these on their own, I’ve whipped up a quick and easy dipping sauce with kewpie mayo, lime and chilli oil, just because I do love a sauce to dip into and the creamy, spicy and zesty taste of this sauce pairs really well with the chicken.
This recipe will serve four as a starter on their own, otherwise you could serve this with rice and turn it into a Karaage Don (唐揚げ丼) for a full meal.
Serves- 4 as a starter
Ingredients- 16
Cooking Time- 40 minutes, (15 minutes to marinade), (25 minutes to fry and garnish)
Skill Level- Easy
Ingredients
- 1 tray (545g) of Lilydale thigh fillets
- 1.5 cups of neutral oil, e.g vegetable, canola.
- 1.5 cups worth of flour. Traditionally potato starch is used but you could substitute this for tapioca, corn or rice flour. Personally, I use a mixture of equal parts cornstarch, tapioca and rice flour as I generally have those on hand and the mix gives you a nice coating, yet a crispy light batter as each flour has a different protein content. If you’re desperate, plain flour can also be used.
Marinade
- 2 cloves of garlic, microplaned
- 2 teaspoons of ginger, peeled and microplaned
- 1 ½ tablespoons of soy sauce
- 1 ½ tablespoons of mirin
- 1 ½ tablespoons of cooking sake
- 1 ½ tablespoons of sesame oil
- Pinch of white pepper
- 1 egg
Dipping Sauce
- 2 tablespoons of kewpie mayo
- Juice of half a lemon/lime
- 2 teaspoons of chilli oil
Garnish
- 2 stalks of spring onion.
Watch the process
Method
- Cut the thigh fillets into bite sized pieces and place into a bowl with all of the marinade ingredients except for the egg. Mix to coat and allow to marinade in the fridge for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours.
- To make the spring onion garnish, cut the spring onion stalks into 7cm length batons. Carefully use a knife to cut down each spring onion baton lengthways, so that when you open it, you have a flat rectangle piece. Layer multiple other pieces on top of each other and then finely slice or chiffonade them into very thin slices. Submerge immediately into a bowl of ice water for at least 10 minutes until all of the spring onion is curly. Drain and dry the spring onion just before garnishing.
- Pull the batter out of the fridge, crack your egg and mix to combine.
- Place your flour onto a plate to become your dredging station.
- Heat your oil in a pot or wok to approx 160 degrees celsius or until a submerged chopstick is bubbling.
- Meanwhile, dredge the chicken pieces in flour and use your hands to create a coating around the chicken pieces. If you want a light batter, lightly dust the chicken and shake off excess flour. But if you want more of a coating with crunchy bits, squeeze the flour onto the chicken using your hands and coat 2 times.
- Fry for 5 minutes until lightly golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and allow to rest for a minute on a baking tray with a wire rack. This first fry is about cooking the chicken and it will continue to cook whilst resting with the residual heat.
- Fry in the oil a second time at a high temperature of approx 180 degrees until a darker golden brown. Remove and drain on a paper towel or wire rack. The second fry is so that you can have an extra crispy coating.
- To make the dipping sauce, mix the kewpie mayo, lemon/lime juice and chilli oil in a small bowl until combined. You want the sauce to be a bit spicy and acidic to cut through the rich crispy chicken.
- Place the chicken onto a platter garnished with the spring onions on top and the dipping sauce on the side.
- Enjoy immediately.
Watch the process:
If you are looking for more Chicken Recipes, you can find some of my favourites below;