Karaage
Every culture has its own fried chicken recipe, and Japanese cuisine is no exception. It's similar to Korean fried chicken, except with its characteristic flavor combination of sake, sugar, and soy sauce. Bite sized and works great as an appetizer and side dish to just about anything. If you have leftover oil lying around, it's also surprisingly easy compared to other fried dishes -- relatively little fuss and mess to clean up.
Active Time: 30 min
Total Time: 45 min
Ingredients
> skin-on boneless chicken thigh, cubed (1 lb)
> sake (1 tbsp)
> sugar (1 tsp)
> soy sauce (2 tbsp)
> ginger (1 tsp grated)
> garlic (1 clove, minced)
> egg (1/2 beaten)
> potato starch (1/3 cup)
> cooking oil
Instructions
1. In a large bowl, combine chicken, sake, sugar, soy sauce, ginger, and garlic. Mix well. Cover and marinade for at least 15 minutes.
2. Drain any excess liquid in the bowl. Add beaten egg and potato starch, and mix well.
3. Fry chicken in ~350F oil for about 5-7 minutes, or until golden brown and fully cooked.
4. Drain on paper towels or a wire rack, serve, and enjoy!
Notes/Tips:
> This recipe is essentially the same as Tasty's karaage fried chicken recipe, except with quite a bit less ginger. Otherwise, it works great! Relatively simple, straightforward, and delicious.
> Make sure your chicken is properly thawed before using. My chicken was still slightly frozen, and it caused the marinade to be slightly more watery than usual. That's probably why I had to drain any excess liquid in the bowl in step (2).
> Moderate sized chicken cubes (1-1.5 inches each side) generally leads to the best result. The chicken is cooked at the same time as the exterior is crispy.