When I had a Japanese restaurant a few years ago Karaage was one of our most popular dishes. We did a Karaage Bento Box for lunch and take away. Those dining in nearly always had Karaage on their tables.
Karaage should be nice and crunchy on the outside and juicy on the inside. Some people make Karaage using a batter mix but I don’t like it that way so I just use corn starch to give a thinner coating. When you make Karaage you need to remove the excess moisture so the coating doesn’t get too thick. This will also make sure your Karaage will come out nice and crunchy when you fry it. When marinating the chicken you will use soy sauce and mirin but you don’t need too really soak it. The salt will help with the flavour. You only need to leave it for 30mins-2 hours.
You can use Karaage in other dishes like Japanese curry, in a hotdog roll, or with buffalo hot sauce etc. Western people seem to love Kaarge with Japanese mayo but I’m not sure why.
Karaage is a popular domestic dish and Japanese people make it at home often. We love Karaage so much and like ramen everyone has their own way to make it and fuss over whose is best. Hopefully you can find your style! I will post a different Karaage recipe in the future so keep an eye on my YouTube channel and website.
How to Make Karaage
Servings 2-3 people | Prep Time 30mins to 2 hours | Cooking Time 20mins
Ingredients
Chicken Tight or Breast | 800g |
Ginger | 1 tsp |
Garlic | 1 tsp |
Mirin | 1 Tbsp |
Soy sauce | 1 Tbsp |
Salt | 1.5-2 tsp |
Corn starch | 3-4 Tbsp |
Oil | For deep fry |
Method
- Remove the excess moisture by dabbing it with paper towel before cutting the chicken.
- Cut the chicken in to bite sized pieces and put them on a tray.
- Dab the chicken again to remove any remaining excess moisture.
- Sprinkle the salt on to the chicken.
- Add the ginger, garlic, Mirin, and Soy sauce and rub it in to the chicken.
- Cover the marinated chicken with plastic and leave it for 30mins-2 hours in your fridge.
- Pour oil into a pot for deep frying. (Oil needs to be at least 3cm deep and enough to cover your chicken). If you have a deep fryer that’s even better.
- Add corn starch into a bowl and take the marinated chicken from your fridge.
- Heat the oil with a medium-high heat until it reaches 160℃.
- Cover the cut chicken with corn starch and gently put it into the hot oil.
- Cook the chicken until an inside temp of 60℃ is reached. If the surface colour is too dark the oil is too hot so reduce the heat to mid.
- Place the Karaage on a tray with kitchen paper or new paper to soak up excess oil.
- Serve on a plate.
