Karaage chicken – Bite-sized chicken pieces marinated in soy sauce, sake, ginger and mirin, coated in a cornflour crumble, then fried until crispy and golden brown. The result is heavenly Japanese fried chicken – crispy on the outside yet tender juicy on the inside, with the perfect balance of savoury and a touch of sweetness. It is no wonder that this is one of the most well-loved Japanese dishes globally.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED FOR THIS RECIPE
Chicken thigh fillets Cut into 2-inch pieces. You can either remove the skin or keep the skin on. I like to leave the chicken skin on as it adds more flavour and is crispy after frying.
Karaage Chicken Marinade
Light Soy Sauce
Sake If you do not have sake in your kitchen, substitute with rice vinegar or dry sherry
Ginger Minced
Mirin If you do not have sake in your kitchen, substitute with rice vinegar or dry sherry
Ground black pepper Optional, I like to add ground black pepper to the marinade too add extra flavour
Cornflour crumble
Cornflour You can also use potato flour if that is what you have available. You will still be able to achieve a very crispy coating on the chicken.
Water
For Frying
Cooking oil Any neutral oil like canola or vegetable oil will do.
HOW TO MAKE KARAAGE CHICKEN
In a large bowl or container, mix light soy sauce, sake, ginger, mirin and pepper. Add chicken thigh pieces and coat them in the marinade. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or the container with a lid. Transfer the bowl or container to the refrigerator and marinate the chicken for 30 minutes to 12 hours. Marinating the chicken for a longer period will result in more flavour.
Heat oil in a deep pot over medium heat to about 350F. If you do not have a thermometer, stick a wooden chopstick to the bottom of the pot, if small bubbles appear, the oil is ready. Alternatively, sprinkle a pinch of corn flour in the oil, if it starts of sizzle, the oil is ready.
While the oil is heating up, make the corn flour crumble. Add 2 cups of corn flour to a shallow bowl. Add in 1 tbsp water into the corn flour and use a fork to mix until small lumps of corn flour forms. Repeat for remaining tbsp of water.
Lightly press chicken pieces into the cornflour crumble until fully coated. Shake of any excess and set aside on a wire rack until ready to fry.
Once the oil is hot enough, carefully place coated chicken pieces into the oil. Fry for about 4-5 minutes or until golden brown and crispy. Transfer the cooked chicken to a wire rack or a plate lined with paper towel to drain any excess oil. Continue for remaining chicken pieces.*
Transfer chicken to a serving plate and serve while it is still hot and crispy.
PRO TIPS
*Check if chicken is completely cooked To check if the chicken is completely cooked, cut a small part of one piece of chicken to check. You can use either a pair of kitchen scissors or a small knife to do this.
HOW TO SERVE KARAAGE CHICKEN
Karaage Chicken and Dipping Sauce
You can serve karaage chicken as it is or with some dipping sauce. This will make a mouth-watering starter or canape. Some dipping sauces that will go well are:
- Kewpie mayo
- Spicy kewpie mayo
- Wasabi kewpie mayo
Karaage Chicken Don
Add some Japanese rice in a bowl, top with several pieces of karaage chicken pieces and optional shredded cabbage. Drizzle over some kewpie mayo and sprinkle some Jappanese chili flakes or furikake. Serve with a side of yellow radish and miso soup.
Karaage Chicken Bento Lunch Set
Probably one of the most attractive lunch way to eat lunch, serve your karaage chicken in a bento box or a tray with small dishes of food. Here are a few elements to make a simple but delicious bento lunch:
- Bowl of rice
- Small plate of karaage chicken
- Small dish of yellow pickled radish
- Bowl of miso soup with optional tofu
- A small salad (shredded cabbage drizzled with kewpie mayo, or regular salad greens)
Karaage Chicken Bao Tacos
The same concept as traditional tacos, but with Asian ingredients.
Fill steamed bao taco buns, with pickled carrots, thinly sliced or shredded cabbage, 1 or 2 karaage chicken pieces, top with some spicy kewpie mayo, and garnish with cilantro. If plating up on a serving platter, you can poke a toothpick into the assembled bao bun to keep all the ingredients in place.
These will make for a fun dinner for the family or canapes at your next dinner party.
Karaage Chicken Sushi
Karaage chicken is also great in sushi!
The easiest way to make sushi is to place a sheet of nori on a bamboo sushi maker, spread ½ cup of sushi rice on the nori, arrange the karrage chicken, and optional yellow radish and cucumber in the middle and roll up the sushi. Once tightly rolled, transfer to a clean cutting board and, using a sharp knife, cut the sushi roll into bite sized pieces.
To prevent the chicken from losing it’s crispiness, serve the karaage chicken sushi immediately.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Can you make karaage chicken in advance?
Karaage chicken is best eaten soon after being fried. However, sometimes this is not possible, especially if you are cooking a large amount or need to pre-cook for a dinner party. In this case, I have some tips for you 😊
Double fry The first option is to fry your karaage chicken twice. On the first fry, cook the karaage chicken until it is cooked but remove them from the oil while they have not gone completely golden in colour yet. Set the pieces of chicken on a colander for the oil to drain. Once you are ready to serve, heat the oil up again and fry the chicken for a second time. Now, you will wait for the chicken to turn golden in colour before removing them from the oil. Transfer the fried chicken to a colander for a few minutes the oil to drain, then transfer the chicken to a serving plate. This will ensure that your chicken will be crispy when you serve it.
Frozen karaage chicken Similar to the above option, fry the chicken until they have cooked but before they turn golden in colour. Place the pieces of chicken on a cooling rack until completely cooled. Transfer the chicken to a lined tray and freeze until frozen. Once frozen, transfer the chicken to a Ziplock bag and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. When you would like to serve the karaage chicken, simply heat some oil in a deep pot, and fry the frozen karaage chicken until golden brown and completely hot throughout.
How to store leftover karaage chicken?
Although karaage chicken is best served soon after being cooked, any leftovers can still be kept. Store leftovers in an air-tight container or Ziplock bag, and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
Reheat any leftover chicken in your air fryer, oven, or microwave. Do note that the crispiness of the karaage chicken will be affected.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE…
- Vietnamese Pickled Carrots
- Crispy Chicken Asian Tacos (coming soon…)
- Salted Egg Yolk Calamari
- Curry Egg Drop Udon
- Beef Fried Rice
- Udon Noodle Soup
Karaage Chicken
Ingredients
- 6 chicken thigh fillets cut into 2-inch pieces
Marinade
- 3 tbsp light soy sauce
- 3 tbsp sake or rice vinegar or dry sherry
- 2 tsp ginger minced
- 1 tbsp mirin or rice vinegar or dry sherry
- 1 tsp ground black pepper optional
Cornflour Crumble
- 2 cup cornflour or potato flour
- 2-3 tbsp water
For Frying
- 4 cup neutral cooking oil canola oil or vegetable oil
Instructions
- In a large bowl or container, mix light soy sauce, sake, ginger, mirin and pepper. Add chicken thigh pieces and coat them in the marinade. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or the container with a lid. Transfer the bowl or container to the refrigerator and marinate the chicken for 30 minutes to 12 hours. Marinating the chicken for a longer period will result in more flavour.
- Heat oil in a deep pot over medium heat to about 350F. If you do not have a thermometer, stick a wooden chopstick to the bottom of the pot, if small bubbles appear, the oil is ready. Alternatively, sprinkle a pinch of corn flour in the oil, if it starts of sizzle, the oil is ready.
- While the oil is heating up, make the corn flour crumble. Add 2 cups of corn flour to a shallow bowl. Add in 1 tbsp water into the cornflour and use a fork to mix until small lumps of corn flour forms. Repeat for remaining tbsp of water.
- Lightly press chicken pieces into the cornflour crumble until fully coated. Shake of any excess and set aside on a wire rack until ready to fry.
- Once the oil is hot enough,carefully place coated chicken pieces into the oil. Fry for about 4-5 minutes or until golden brown and crispy. Transfer the cooked chicken to a wire rack or a plate lined with paper towel to drain any excess oil. Continue for remaining chicken pieces.*
- Transfer chicken to a serving plate and serve while it is still hot and crispy.
