Japanese Crispy Fried Chicken Kara Age Recipes

JAPANESE FRIED CHICKEN (KARAAGE CHICKEN)

Steps:

• Pat chicken pieces dry with paper towel. Put the chicken and the Marinade ingredients into a ziplock bag or a bowl.
• Massage the bag well ensuring that all pieces are coated with the marinade. Marinate for 30 minutes to an hour.
• Heat enough oil in a deep pot or pan to 160°C/320°F (note 3). The depth of the oil should be about 3-4cm/1¼-1½".
• Meanwhile, drain excess marinade from the chicken, place the chicken pieces on paper towels to remove excess liquid, and put them in a bowl.
• Sprinkle over the corn flour and turn chicken to coat every piece with corn flour.
• Fry chicken in batches. Add several chicken pieces to the oil one by one and fry for about 2.5-3 minutes (note 4). You may want to move the chicken pieces around as they tend to stick to the bottom of the pot/pan.
• Take the chicken pieces out of the oil and rest for at least 3-4 minutes (note 5) on paper towels. Repeat with remaining chicken pieces.
• Skim any flour crumbs from the oil if there are any and increase the temperature of the oil to 190-200°C/374-392°F (note 3).
• Put the chicken pieces back into the oil in batches and fry for about 30 seconds to 1 minute until golden brown and crunchy. Repeat with remaining chicken pieces.
• Serve immediately with shredded lettuce and parsley for decoration if using.

JAPANESE CRISPY FRIED CHICKEN - KARA-AGE

Steps:

• Cut chicken in bite size pieces. In a plastic container or large ziploc bag, combine grated ginger, garlic, soy sauce and Sake.
• Put the chicken in the marinade and mix chicken well. Put the chicken in the fridge for 15 to 20 minutes.
• In a deep frying pan or a wok, heat vegetable oil to 180 degree Celsius or 350°F
• Dust the chicken with potato starch and fry in the oil until golden. To make them really crispy, lift chicken from the oil with chopsticks or tongs from time to time so that the chicken will be aired out (so to speak).

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.

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.

CRISPY JAPANESE FRIED CHICKEN - TORI KARAAGE (AIR FRIED!)

Steps:

• Cut the chicken thighs into 6 or 8 pieces each and add to a medium bowl.
• Pour in your marinade ingredients (soy sauce, cooking sake, rice wine vinegar, ginger and mirin). Marinate on the bench for 10 minutes, or cover and pop in the fridge if you'd like to marinate for longer (up to overnight). When you're ready to cook, remove the chicken from the fridge and allow to come to room temperature for 30 minutes.
• Brush and coat the bottom of the air fryer basket with vegetable oil (or cooking spray). Pre-heat your air fryer at 200°C / 400°F for 2-3 minutes.
• Next, using chopsticks, pick up the chicken pieces and coat in potato starch and place into your air fryer. You may need to air fry in a batch or two, so only coat as many pieces that will fit in one layer of your air fryer basket. If cooking multiple batches, no need to brush the bottom of the air fryer with more oil.
• Liberally brush the tops of the chicken pieces with vegetable oil until you can't see any more starch and close the lid. Air fry for 4 minutes before flipping the pieces over, brushing with oil again and cooking for a further 4 minutes. Take them out when they've reached your desired crispiness - cook for an extra minute or two for an extra brown and crunchy finish.
• Serve immediately as a snack or alongside shredded lettuce or cabbage and Kewpie mayonnaise. Or pop it on top of a sushi bowl or ramen.

KARA-AGE - JAPANESE STYLE FRIED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Grate the ginger and squeeze it over a bowl to extract it's juices. Add the sake or wine and soya.
• Cut the chicken thighs into four chunks and rub well with the marinade, then set aside in the marinade for 30 minutes.
• Heat the oil slowly for 165-170oC/330-340oF. Pat the chicken dry on paper towel. When the oil is hot, dust the chicken generously with cornflour and lower the pieces into the oil. To maintain the oil temperature, do not add too many chicken pieces at once. Deep fry the chicken pieces for 4-5 mins, until crisp, golden and cooked through.
• Halve on chicken piece to make sure it is cooked inside. Drain the rest of the chicken, then serve hot or cold.
• Garnished with salad leaves.