Chicken Karaage

Japanese mayonnaise is exquisite

While being in isolation during this pandemic, I have been doing a lot of cooking, and lately my focus has been on Japanese cuisine. My godmother was a second generation Japanese American named Kimiko Sakai. She and her husband Toshio lived in a beautiful house overlooking a large pond on Bainbridge Island along with Uncle Tosh’s mother, Botchan. I went to their house very often as a child when Mom would go visit, so I had plenty of Japanese food there. Mom also picked up a few dishes from Kim and made them for us at home. I don’t remember learning how to make sushi rice or sukiyaki because it was just by osmosis. In the midst of the second month of cooking for myself all the time and being alone, I started to crave comfort food and for me that meant fish and chips and Japanese food - the love of my two mothers.

I’m super careful about trimming

You can’t live on three dishes, though, so I started picking favourites from our frequent visits to Japanese restaurants to try at home. I soon discovered my new favourite food blogger, Nami Chen from justonecookbook.com. Her YouTube videos are absolutely great and she is as charming as a fresh pot of houjicha! The marinade in this recipe is the same as hers. I tried several, but this one is the best. The techniques, however are gleaned from multiple different sources and I think they are easier and give an excellent result. This recipe can be made gluten free by substituting gluten free soy sauce.

Chicken Karaage

all ingredients are per person

1 chicken thigh
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon soy sauce (substitute gluten free if desired)
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon sake
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon ginger paste
1-2 tablespoons potato starch
oil for frying
Japanese mayonnaise

Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces trimming away excess fat. Keep any small scraps you trim off to form a nugget later. I love the nugget! When all the other pieces are done, chop the scraps to the consistency of ground chicken, sprinkle with flour (or some of your potato starch to keep things gluten free) a smoosh into a ball.

Sprinkle the chicken pieces with salt and pepper and set aside while you prepare the marinade.

Combine the sesame oil, sake, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger and pour over the chicken. Mix and put in your refrigerator for anywhere from 30 minutes to overnight.

When you’re ready to get frying, place 1-2 tablespoons of potato starch per chicken thigh into a large freezer bag with the chicken pieces. Seal the bag with lots of air inside and shake it baby, shake it. You want the pieces all to be thoroughly coated with potato starch.

Here’s the magic part: because you use potato starch, the coating is basically potato chips.

If you don’t have a deep fryer (go get one) you will need a heavy duty pan and a candy thermometer. Put about four inches of cooking oil that has a very high smoke point in the pot and heat it up to between 350F and 365F. I like to use a ratchet old pair of wooden chopsticks to place the pieces into the oil so that I can hold them there until they really get bubbling. That way, they are unlikely to stick.

Cook in small batches for between 3 and 3.5 minutes each depending on the size of your pieces. Place on a rack to drain, or alternatively a piece of cooking parchment.

Serve with Japanese mayonnaise for dipping. My favourite is Kewpie brand, which is gluten free by default.