From Aunt Deb’s recipe box
This was one of the most delightfully unexpected recipes to come from the box. Eating karaage and other Japanese street food treats at summer festivals is one of my core summer memories from my time living in Japan.
Until recently I didn’t get the impression that many Americans had even heard of karaage, so to find this recipe in Aunt Deb’s recipe box was an unexpected surprise. Somehow, Japanese fried chicken made it to New Jersey! I also got the chance to try cooking something I had never made myself before; I usually avoid deep frying because it makes a mess, but this chicken is so worth it.
First step is to cut up the chicken, I used boneless skinless thighs, and marinate in a mix of soy sauce, sake, ginger, and one smashed clove of garlic. Pro tip for the ginger- I store mine in the freezer, and grate it with a micro plane while still frozen. You can marinate at room temperature for about 20 minutes or up to 8 hours in the fridge.
When you are ready to cook, combine flour, corn starch, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Then take the chicken pieces one at at time, shaking off excess marinade, and dredge them in the flour mixture. Shake off the extra flour, and lay the chicken pieces out on a plate or baking sheet. I accidentally dredged and fried the garlic clove too, which turned out super delicious.
Let the chicken sit for about 5 minutes, the coating will absorb the extra marinade and go from white to beige. In the meantime, heat your oil to 350 degrees. I used a deep cast iron pan with a candy thermometer to keep track. With this set up it is tough to keep the temperature steady, but the chicken still turned out great.
Double frying is the true secret to crispy chicken. For round one, fry the chicken in batches of 4-5 pieces for about a minute, just to set the coating.
Then, lower the oil temperature to 325 degrees, and fry a second time in batches of 6-7 pieces for 3-4 minutes.
After the second fry everything is cooked through and a nice crispy brown. Season with some salt, and serve hot or at room temperature. I like to squeeze a little lemon on mine! Great as a snack, but we served with rice and some squash to make it a meal.
Gingery Fried Chicken (Karaage)
Recipe by
Servings
4-6 servings
Prep time
30 minutes
Cooking time
30 minutes
Calories
who’s counting?
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs boneless chicken
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup sake
- 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1/3 cup cornstarch
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- oil for deep frying
- 1 lemon cut into wedges
Directions
- Cut chicken in to 1 inch square pieces.
- In a shallow bowl, combine soy sauce, rice wine, and grated ginger.
- Lay the garlic clove on your cutting board, and smash it with the side of your knife, this loosens the skin and allows it to release its aroma.
- Place the garlic and chicken in the marinade, and let sit for 20 minutes at room temperature, or up to 8 hours covered in the refrigerator.
- Combine the flour, cornstarch, salt, and pepper in a bowl.
- Lift the chicken pieces from the marinade one at a time and dredge in the flour mixture. Shake off the excess flour and put on a plate, letting it sit for 5 minutes. The coating will absorb some marinade and turn from white to beige.
- Heat oil to 350 degrees (a pinch of dredging will sizzle immediately without burning). Fry the chicken in batches of 4-5 for about a minute. Drain on a paper towel.
- Lower the oil to 325 degrees, and fry again in batches of 6-7 for 3-4 minutes until chicken is cooked through and coating is crispy and golden brown.
- Drain on paper towel lined plate, season with salt, and serve hot or at room temp with lemon slices.
Notes
This can be eaten by itself, but make it a meal with some rice and summer vegetables!
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