About the Recipe
Tourists to Japan are always wowwed by this dish, which the locals call Tori no Karaage. The secrets is to use chicken thighs, a corn starch and flour coating and to double fry the nuggets. If you want to know more, read on...
Ingredients
4 boneless chicken thighs
3 cm / 1.25 in piece of ginger
2 large garlic cloves
for the marinade:
1 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp sake
2 tbsp soy sauce
salt & pepper
8 tbsp cornstarch
6 tbsp plain flour
1/2 lemon for drizzling
some sunflower or other vegetable oil for shallow frying
Preparation
lay out the chicken thighs flat, then slice the thickest part of the thigh. the aim here is to get a uniform thickness, so that when you cut the thighs into bite sized peieces, you get pieces that are the same thickness. this way, you’ll ensure that they all cook well when you come to fry
next, cut the thighs cut into bite sized pieces
to make the marinade:
grate the ginger and garlic into a bowl. add the mirin, sake and soy sauce to the bowl. mix together well.
sprinkle the chicken generously with black pepper and salt over the chicken. pour over the marinade. mix well so that all the chicken pieces are well coated. marinate for at least 30 minutes
for the karaage coating:
combine the cornstarch and plain flour in a bowl. (the ratio of the flour is 4 : 3 - the cornflour gives the karaage its signature crunchy texture.)
give each chicken piece a good coating of flour. while you are doing this, if you notice some pieces have absorbed the flour, give them another dip, so that they are nicely coated with flour
pour about 2cm / 3/4 in of oil into a medium saucepan. heat the oil about 170C / 340F. to test the heat, drop a small piece of the flour mixture into the pan. if it bubles readily, you are ready to fry the chicken
shallow fry 4 - 5 pieces at a time for 2 minutes. don’t overcrowd the pan as this will reduce the temperature.
after 2 minutes, remove the chicken pieces to a rack or some kitchen paper to drain off the cooking oil. fry your next batch, reducing the heat a little if its getting too hot
when you have finished frying the chicken, use a (metal) strainer to remove any excess flour from the oil in the saucepan
next, refry your first batch of karaage for another 2 minutes. adjust the heat as you fry to keep the temperature constant. fry the chicken batch by batch like you did the first time around
when all chicken pieces have been fried again for 2 minutes, drain on a rack or with fresh kitchen paper
your Japanese fried chicken is now ready to serve