Japanese Crispy Fried Chicken (唐揚げ, 日式酥脆炸鸡块）

INTRODUCTION

Whenever I frequented Japanese restaurants, as I can’t, seriously, I can’t take any raw food, I have not much choices but ordered cooked dishes like Katsudon, Unagi Don, Ramen and this Karaage. When I first tried this dish, I immediately fell in love with it..

I loved the chicken dish because of its strong ginger flavour.. In fact, it reminded me of my mum’s fried fish that uses ginger juices as one of the main marinating ingredients..

The chicken is crispy, full of ginger aroma, crispy outside and slightly sweet. I can never missed this snack or appetizer item when I dined in Japanese restaurant..

Per Wikipedia:

“Karaage (唐揚げ or 空揚げ or から揚げ [kaɽaaɡe]) (approximately kah-rah-ah-ge in English), is a Japanese cooking technique in which various foods — most often chicken, but also other meat and fish — are deep fried in oil. Small pieces of the food are marinated in a mix of soy sauce, garlic, and/or ginger, then lightly coated with a seasoned wheat flour or potato starch mix, and fried in a light oil — similar to the preparation of tempura.”

Reading Wikipedia’s definition, I am unsure why most recipes have implied that karaage is fried chicken. But as per Wikipedia, it applies to all fried foods such as octopus, fish and etc.. Well, for purpose of this post, I will also assumed that karaage is fried chicken as well.

Preparation of the dish is definitely not difficult.. The combination of spices and herbs will definitely suits the taste buds of most, if not all Malaysian and Singaporeans.

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Recipe adapted from : Karaage

Servings: About 3-4 adult servings

500 grams of chicken tights or drumsticks cut into 2-3 cm cubes
10 cloves of garlics
5 cm long ginger
2 tablespoons of sake
3 tablespoons of Japanese light soya sauce
1 tablespoon of sugar (optional)
1/2 cup of potatoes starch
Salt to taste
Dashes of white pepper

STEPS OF PREPARATION

Pound or grate the ginger and garlic until fine. Add it to the chicken cubes. Add sake, Japanese light soya sauce, sugar and pinches of salt. Stir until well mixed. Let it marinate for at least 30 minutes.

Get ready a bowl and place the potato starch and white pepper. Coat the marinated chicken pieces with these dry starches. Heat up a pot of hot oil, deep fry the chicken cubes under medium heat until the exterior is golden brown.

CONCLUSION

This is a simple recipe yet produces great taste. While it is authentic to use Japanese ingredients, if you do not have Sake and the Japanese light soya sauce, you can try to substitute with Chinese cooking wine and light soya sauce. Do give it a try..

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.

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