Ingredients
Method
Make the pickled carrots
- Peel carrots, then cut with a knife or mandolin slicer medium to small sticks. Alternatively, use a spiraliser to make carrot 'noodles' to pickle. Smaller and thinner cuts will pickle faster.
- In a container, combine vinegar and sugar. Mix until sugar dissolves.
- Add the carrots, making sure they are fully submerged. If needed, add some room temperature boiled water until fully submerged.
- Close the container with the lid, and place in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes before eating. Keep the pickled carrots refrigerated in the pickling mixture for up to 1 month, or until too sour or carrots lose their crunch.
Make the 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, and refrigerate 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.
Steam the bao buns
- While the chicken is frying, steam the store-bought bao buns as directed on the packaging. If using homemade bao buns,steam them as directed by the recipe you are using.
Make spicy mayo
- To make the spicy mayo, in a small bowl, mix kewpie mayo with srirachaa sauce. Set aside until ready to assemble
Assemble
- To assemble the taco bao buns, open the bao bun and fill with some cabbage,pickled carrots and 1-2 pieces of karaage chicken. Dress with 1 teaspoon spicy mayo, and garnish with some cilantro. To ensure everything stays in place, stick a toothpick into the bao buns. Arrange them on a serving platter. Serve immediately.
Notes
PRO TIPS
Pickling carrots
- Make pickled carrots the night before. I like to always have a container of pickled carrots in my fridge. However, if you do not already have pickled carrots around, I suggest pickling some carrots the night before. This way, your carrots will be tastier, and you will have one less thing to make on the day.
- Check out our post on pickled carrots for more tips on how to make our quick and easy pickled carrots, here.