Best Japanese Fried Chicken Chicken Karaage Recipes

KARAAGE (JAPANESE FRIED CHICKEN)

Steps:

• In a shallow baking dish large enough to hold the chicken, combine ginger, garlic, sake, soy sauce and sugar. Toss chicken pieces in marinade to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 24 to 48 hours.
• Fill an aluminum or thin stainless steel pot (best for quick temperature adjustments), with sides at least 5 inches tall, with about 3 inches of peanut oil. Heat the oil to 350 degrees. Place several layers of newsprint or paper towels on a sheet pan.
• While the oil heats, place a wire rack over a second sheet pan. In a bowl, combine potato starch, salt and pepper. Remove one piece of chicken at a time from marinade, and tuck in any jagged bits or skin as you roll it in starch mixture to coat. Rest it on the rack. Repeat with all chicken pieces.
• Gently shake off excess potato starch before cooking each piece of chicken. Fry 3 or 4 pieces at a time, keeping oil temperature around 325 degrees (temperature will fall when you add chicken) and no lower than 300 degrees. Fry for about 3 minutes, or until golden. Remove from oil using a wire-mesh spoon or long chopsticks, and cool on newsprint or paper towels.
• When all the chicken has been fried once, increase the oil's temperature to 375 degrees. Fry chicken pieces a second time, keeping the oil between 350 and 375 degrees, until the crust is deep golden brown, about 1 minute. Drain on newsprint or paper towels. This second frying makes the coating stay extra crisp, even if you don't serve it immediately.
• Serve hot or at room temperature, with a lemon wedge, and lettuce and cucumber slices for a cool, fresh contrast, if you like.

CHICKEN KARAAGE (JAPANESE FRIED CHICKEN)

Steps:

• Combine soy sauce, sake, and ginger in a large bowl. Add chicken; turn to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let marinate in the refrigerator, about 30 minutes.
• Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large saucepan to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Place cornstarch in a large resealable plastic bag. Add chicken; seal bag and toss until chicken is coated with cornstarch.
• Fry chicken in batches until juices run clear and it is golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain on paper towels or on a wire rack.

JAPANESE FRIED CHICKEN (CHICKEN KARAAGE)

Steps:

• Rinse the chicken, cut off any excess fat and pat dry with paper towels. Sprinkle the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and the pepper. Using a sharp knife, score the chicken, especially in fibrous parts of the meat. Use the point of the knife to poke small holes in the chicken, then cut the chicken in bite-size (1 1/2-inch) pieces.
• In a mixing bowl combine the chicken, sake, garlic, ginger, sesame oil, soy sauce and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Mix well, rubbing the marinade into the chicken. Marinate for 2 hours in the refrigerator.
• Add the egg slowly to the chicken while mixing with your hands. Add the cornstarch and lightly toss to coat the chicken. In a medium saucepan heat the vegetable oil over medium heat until a deep-frying thermometer reads 335 degrees F. Fry the chicken, a few pieces at a time, until golden brown, about 10 minutes (the internal temperature of the meat should be 165 degrees F). Shake off any excess grease. Cool and reserve the oil for another use. Plate the chicken and garnish with lemon wedges to serve.

KARAAGE (JAPANESE FRIED CHICKEN)

Steps:

• Mix garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sake, mirin, sesame oil, black pepper, cayenne, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl.
• Place chicken in the marinade and mix until thoroughly and evenly coated. Cover and refrigerate for 1 to 10 hours.
• Set up your dredging station: Place a wire rack over a foil-lined baking sheet. Add potato starch to a wide, shallow bowl.
• Remove chicken from the refrigerator. Stir to coat with marinade. Toss 2 or 3 pieces at a time in the potato starch until evenly coated. Shake off any excess starch and place chicken on the wire rack. Repeat to dredge remaining pieces.
• Tap the rack on the baking sheet to remove any loose chunks of starch, then transfer the baking sheet and rack of chicken to the refrigerator for 15 to 30 minutes.
• Heat oil in a deep fryer to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Without crowding, lower chicken carefully into the hot oil in batches. Fry, tossing occasionally, until cooked through and the outside is crunchy and browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Repeat with remaining chicken.

KARAAGE (JAPANESE FRIED CHICKEN) WITH HONEY MAYOSTER SAUCE

Steps:

• Mix 1 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon honey, garlic, and ginger together in a bowl. Add chicken; turn to coat. Marinate in the refrigerator, 8 hours to overnight.
• Whisk egg in a bowl until smooth.
• Pour panko bread crumbs into a shallow bowl. Dip chicken pieces in whisked egg and roll in panko until coated.
• Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large saucepan to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Cook chicken in batches in the hot oil until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain excess oil.
• Mix Japanese mayonnaise, 2 tablespoons honey, Dijon mustard, mirin, and 1 tablespoon soy sauce together to make sauce. Pour sauce over chicken.

JAPANESE CHICKEN KARAAGE (FRIED CHICKEN)

Steps:

• Cut chicken meat into a bite sized pieces.
• Sprinkle a teaspoon of salt and a tablespoon of Japanese Sake on the meats, knead them, and leave it about 30 minutes.
• Sop up the Sake with paper towels and put the meats, all spices, and flour into a plastic bag.
• Knead the plastic bag until all spices and flour cover all meats.
• Fill a pan with vegetable oil for deep frying and heat it up with middle flame. When the pan is heated up enough, put the meats into the pan.
• If your pan is big enough(about 30 cm diameter), you can put them all at once (Don't put only a few pieces; it will make only the surface of meat char).
• Notes: If you see bubbles as soon as you put a wooden chop stick into the oil, this is too hot. If you see them after 2 seconds, it's just the right temperature. After deep-frying the meat about 7~8 minutes, make the flame stronger.
• When the chicken fried beautifully brown, take them out of the pan onto paper towels.
• In addition If you sprinkle lemon juice on the chicken, it tastes better.

JAPANESE FRIED CHICKEN KARAAGE WITH ONION GINGER RELISH

Steps:

• Massage chicken pieces with 1/2 tsp salt (to remove any unpleasant smell) and wash under cold running water and pat dry.
• If using bone in chicken legs, cut thigh meat (not skin side)in several areas to make leg sections lay flatter. Using the dull side of knife, pound slightly to flatten more. If using boneless chicken thighs, pound lightly to flatten for quick frying.
• Combine marinade/coating mixture thoroughly in a large bowl and marinate chicken for 30 minutes. Because this coating is thick, it is best to use your hand to coat the chicken pieces. In Asia, we call these types of coating marinades as simply marinades since it does impart taste to the food being marinated.
• While chicken is marinating, make vinegar sauce by combining all sauce ingredients and set aside.
• Make relish by combining all relish ingredients and set aside.
• With ample oil (about 1 inch in depth) in a wok or deep fryer, heat oil to medium high. Fry chicken turning them occasionally and adjust heat for even frying. They are done when nicely browned and crunchy, and no longer red in the center. This takes approximately 30-40 minutes for bone-in leg sections and about 15-20 minutes for boneless thigh sections. Timing will depend on how high the temperature is.
• Remove and cut in bite size pieces using a cleaver for bone in chicken or cut in bite size pieces using a regular kitchen knife for boneless chicken. Usually one leg section will yield 4 to 5 cut sections. Arrange on large platter and drizzle vinegar sauce over the chicken pieces and arrange a mound of relish on top.

CHICKEN KARAAGE : JAPANESE-CHINESE STYLE FRIED CHICKEN

Steps:

• (you can use another kind of oil; I just prefer peanut oil) Cut up the chicken thighs into bite-sized pieces. You can take off the skin if you like, though it does make the chicken crispier. Put the chicken pieces in a bowl. Add the grated ginger, soy sauce and sake, and mix well. Let marinate for a minimum of 1/2 hour, and up to about 1 hour (not too long or the salt in the soy sauce will toughen up the chicken.) Heat the oil. Toss in enough cornstarch into the marinated chicken so that each piece is completely coated. Fry the chicken pieces a few at a time until a deep golden brown. Drain well, and eat with a squeeze of lemon juice.