Karaage

Japanese Fried Chicken

Karaage is chicken marinated in soy sauce, ginger and garlic, dusted with potato starch and fried twice, once gently to cook it through and once hot to make it crisp. The result is a crackling crust over juicy meat, served with a squeeze of lemon and a spoon of Japanese mayonnaise.

The writer's recipe marinates 680 g of skin-on chicken thighs in soy sauce, sake, ginger, garlic and sesame oil for 30 minutes, coats them in flour and potato starch, fries them at 160°C for 90 seconds, rests them, and fries them again at 180°C for 45 seconds.

Ingredients

Ingredients

  • 680 g boneless, skin-on chicken thighs, in 5 cm pieces
  • 1/2 tsp fine sea salt and 1/8 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp grated ginger
  • 1 garlic clove, grated
  • 2 tsp soy sauce
  • 1/2 tbsp sake
  • 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil
  • 2 tbsp potato starch
  • 2 tbsp plain flour
  • About 800 ml neutral oil, to deep-fry
  • Lemon wedges and Japanese mayonnaise, to serve

Method

  1. Marinate Season the chicken with the salt and pepper. Mix the ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sake and sesame oil, rub it into the chicken and chill for 30 minutes.
  2. Coat Mix the flour and potato starch on a plate. Just before frying, toss the chicken pieces in the mixture one at a time, shaking off the excess.
  3. First fry Heat the oil to 160°C in a deep heavy pan. Fry 3 to 5 pieces at a time for 90 seconds, until light golden, and lift on to a wire rack. Rest for a few minutes.
  4. Second fry Raise the oil to 180°C. Fry the pieces again, in batches, for about 45 seconds, until deep golden and crisp. Check that a piece is at least 75°C in the middle with clear juices, and serve at once with lemon and mayonnaise.

Food safety

Deep-frying: use a deep, heavy pan no more than a third full of oil, never leave it unattended, and keep the chicken dry so it does not spit. Let the oil cool completely before moving it. Check that the chicken is cooked through with no pink and clear juices.

Do not crowd the pan. The oil temperature drops.

Frying twice is what keeps the meat juicy and the crust crisp.

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