Chicken karaage
Japanese fried chicken thigh fillets with a light ultra crisp coating, our home version of chicken karaage was served with shredded cabbage, mayo for dipping and rice on the side.
Servings 4 people
Ingredients
- 500 grams chicken thigh fillets or 1.1 pounds (skin on is recommended)
- ¼ cup Japanese soy sauce
- ¼ cup mirin
- 1 teaspoon grated garlic
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- ¼ cup potato starch you may need more, or less, depending on the size of your chicken pieces
- peanut oil or other oil with a high smoking point for deep frying
Instructions
- Wipe the chicken thigh fillets dry with paper towels then cut into cubes. We like 2"x2" cubes but you can make them slightly larger or smaller than that.
- Place the chicken cubes in a bowl, add the soy sauce, mirin, garlic and ginger, and mix well. Cover the bowl and marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- In a fryer, heat enough cooking oil to reach a depth of at least three inches.
- Drain the chicken and dredge each piece in starch.
- Over medium heat (310F to 325F if you're using a thermometer), fry the chicken cubes in batches. Three to four minutes per batch or just until the coating starts to turn crisp.
- Let the chicken rest on a rack as you fry the next batch, and so on.
- When all the chicken cubes have been fried, turn up the heat to high (that's 350F to 375F with a thermometer).
- Fry the chicken cubes a second time, in batches, for another two minutes.
- Serve your chicken karaage immediately.
