CRISPY Chicken Karaage – Japanese Fried Chicken

Welcome to Day 4 of Cooking 15 Street Foods for 15 Days! Who doesn’t love fried chicken? Today we are making one of my must-order dishes at Japanese Restaurants – Chicken Karaage!

Deep-Fried till perfection, these extra crispy Chicken Karaage is crunchy on the outside and super juicy and flavourful on the inside. If you never tried Japanese Fried Chicken, this is your sign to make it at home this week! Make sure to make extra because I promise you will be reaching for seconds. 

Chicken Karaage is a type of Japanese Fried Chicken that is a super popular street food and appetizer that everyone loves.

I love all types of fried chicken, but I was shocked the first time I had Chicken Karaage! Since the skin is left on the chicken thighs, the chicken skin becomes  EXTRA crispy when fried while also protecting the meat keeping it juicy and tender. I love to pair my Chicken Karaage with a slice of lemon and some Japanese Mayo! 

I highly recommend using boneless Chicken thigh WITH the skin on for Chicken Karaage.

However, if you are unable to find any butcher that sells it, you can also use boneless chicken thigh or chicken breast with the skin on as well. If you live in Canada, many large Asian Grocery Market (T&T) sell boneless chicken thigh with the skin on; if not, many youtube videos demonstrate how to do this at home as well! 

The marinade is super simple; all your need is soy sauce, mirin, sake (optional), black pepper, sesame oil, ginger, and garlic.

Let the chicken rest for 30 – 60 minutes to help season the chicken and to tenderize it. To get extra crispy coating and authentic texture, I highly recommend using Japanese Potato Starch; I recommend using JFC Katakuriko. You can find this at Asian grocery stores, but I also linked it on my blog ($7) if you can’t find it. Alternatively, you can also use corn starch as well, the texture will be a little bit different, but it will still be super crispy! 

If you like FRIED CHICKEN, here are some other recipes: 

• Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken (Extra Crispy) 
• Keto-friendly General Tso Chicken 
• Spicy Honey Garlic Chicken
• Taiwanese Crispy Fried Chicken 

Ingredients 

• 5 piece of boneless chicken thigh with the skin on (cut into bite-sized pieces) 
• 2 cloves of Garlic (Grated) 
• 0.5 tbsp of Ginger (grated) 
• 2.5 tbsp of Soy Sauce 
• Freshly Grated Black Pepper 
• 0.5 tbsp of Sesame Oil 
• two tbsp of Mirin 
• 2 tbsp of Sake 
• 2 tbsp of Corn Starch 
• 1 Egg
• ¼ cup of Japanese Potatoe Starch  

1. Marinate the chicken for 30 minutes with 2 cloves of grated garlic, 0.5 tbsp of grated ginger, 2.5 tbsp of Soy Sauce, 0.5 tbsp of Sesame Oil, 2 tbsp of Mirin, two tbsp of Sake, and add in freshly grated black pepper.
2.  After 30 minutes, add in 2 tbsp of corn starch and 1 egg, mix well to ensure every piece of chicken is coated with the batter.
3. Coat the chicken with Japanse Potato Starch, dust off any excess starch. 
4. In a pan, add oil and turn the heat to medium-high. Once the oil is hot, add in the chicken thigh and fry for 3-4 minutes or until the chicken becomes crispy and golden brown. (Make sure not to add all the chicken at once as it may lower the oil’s temperature)
5. Serve with the size of Japanese Mayo and a slice of lemon. ENJOY! 

Brands That I Recommend: 

• Japanese Potato Starch 
• Sesame Oil
• Soy Sauce 
• Mirin