Fried chicken, whether it’s Southern, Japanese, or Korean, is one of
my favourite foods of all time. Put simply, it would be on the menu for
my last meal. It’s one of those dishes that strikes the perfect balance
between flavor, texture and richness. The only downside about a really
great fried chicken (calories aside), is that it takes about a day to make.
Karaage (唐揚げ), pronounced kah-rah-ah-geh, literally means “Tang
fried” (Tang as in the Chinese dynasty), and is an umbrella term for any
chicken that’s coated in either potato starch or flour and fried. Like
Gyoza and Ramen, Karaage is an example of Wafu-Chuka (Chinese-style
Japanese) cuisine, whereby dumplings, noodles, or in this case fried
chicken, was adapted from the Chinese culinary repertoire and turned
into something uniquely Japanese.
The most common type of Karaage, is known as Tatsutaage (竜田揚げ), which
is usually defined by the chicken first being marinated in soy sauce
and then coated with potato starch. The name is in reference to the
reddish brown color imparted by the soy sauce, which was thought to
resemble the color of the Tatsuta River in autumn, when the surrounding
Japanese maple trees turn the river a similar hue. After being
marinated in soy sauce, ginger and garlic, the two-bite nuggets of
chicken are dredged in potato starch and deep fried until crisp. The
potato starch creates a golden shell around the karaage with a lasting
crispness which makes it perfect for packing into a bento lunch. Karaage
also makes for a great summer picnic with some onigiri (rice balls)
I know someone is going to ask so I’ll address a few substitutions
up-front. You can make Karaage with breast meat, but it will be dryer
and less flavorful for the same reason why breast meat is healthier: it
has less fat. Cornstarch can be substituted for the potato starch,
however the texture won’t be the same. Karaage made with cornstarch has a
dense crunchy texture like tortilla chips, while karaage made with
potato starch fries up with a light crispy crust like a potato chip.
Personally, I also prefer potato starch to cornstarch as a thickening
agent, so I’ve done away with cornstarch in my kitchen. In the US, you
can get potato starch at Whole Foods under the Bob’s Red Mill brand.
Chicken Karaage (Japanese Fried Chicken)Karaage,
the Japanese version of fried chicken is first marinated in ginger,
garlic and soy sauce, and then coated in potato starch before being
fried. The result is an ultra crispy shell encasing a flavorful bite of
juicy chicken inside.Marc Matsumoto
boneless skin-on chicken thighs (cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces)
1 tablespoon
fresh ginger (grated)
1 clove
garlic (grated)
2 tablespoons
soy sauce
1 tablespoon
sake
2 teaspoons
granulated sugar granulated
1/3 cup
potato starch
vegetable oil (for frying)
lemon (for serving)
Steps
Add
the ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sake and sugar to a bowl and whisk to
combine. Add the chicken, then stir to coat evenly. Cover and
refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Add
1 inch of vegetable oil to a heavy bottomed pot and heat until the oil
reaches 360 degrees F. Line a wire rack with 2 sheets of paper towels
and get your tongs out. Put the potato starch in a bowl
Add a handful of chicken to the potato starch and toss to coat each piece evenly.
Fry
the karaage in batches until the exterior is a medium brown and the
chicken is cooked through. Transfer the fried chicken to the paper towel
lined rack. If you want the karaage to stay crispy longer, you can fry
the chicken a second time, until it's a darker color after it's cooled
off once. Serve with lemon wedges.
Tebasaki (Japanese Fried Chicken) These Nagoya-style Tebasaki (Japanese chicken wings) are crisp on the outside with a sweet and savory glaze that's that's redolent of garlic with a spicy black-pepper kick. Tebasaki(手羽先) literally translates to “wing tips” and refers to the cut of chicken as well as to a dish popular in izakayas around the city of Nagoya. Unlike the other Japanese fried chicken , Tebasaki is always made with bone-in chicken wings, has little to no breading, and is seasoned after it’s fried. Despite the absence of any significant crust, the wings are fried until the skin is rice cracker crisp before being dunked in a sweet and peppery soy sauce based glaze. Think of it as the Japanese cousin of Buffalo wings, and Korean fried chicken. So how does one go about making chicken so crispy without a batter or breading, and then maintain the crisp crunch after being drenched with a glaze? There are a few tricks to getting these restaurant-good without an indus
Add the ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sake and sugar to a bowl and whisk to combine. Add the chicken, then stir to coat evenly. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Add 1 inch of vegetable oil to a heavy bottomed pot and heat until the oil reaches 360 degrees F. Line a wire rack with 2 sheets of paper towels and get your tongs out. Put the potato starch in a bowl
Add a handful of chicken to the potato starch and toss to coat each piece evenly.
Fry the karaage in batches until the exterior is a medium brown and the chicken is cooked through. Transfer the fried chicken to the paper towel lined rack. If you want the karaage to stay crispy longer, you can fry the chicken a second time, until it's a darker color after it's cooled off once. Serve with lemon wedges.
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