Chicken Karaage (Japanese Fried Chicken)

Chicken Karaage served with some sliced raw cucumbers and mayonnaise

I started cooking chicken Karaage at home when my son, who was around two years old at the time, devoured almost my entire order of chicken Karaage at our favourite Japanese restaurant, Yokozuna, in our local mall, Chadstone.

I remember that my younger brother also loved eating chicken Karaage when he was a child. However, my mom and maids never cooked chicken Karaage from scratch. In my memory my brother's karaage came from a frozen packaging. We lived in Jakarta, Indonesia where foreign food like pizza, pasta and Japanese food were special food.

I was surprised to learn that it is actually not difficult to make chicken Karaage from scratch at home. It is more difficult to make other fried chicken recipe that requires egg and bread crumbs.

After cooking this dish a few times, I finally got a consistent result and a thumbs up from my husband each time.

Here is my recipe:

Chicken Karaage served with rice, fresh salad and mayonnaise

Ingredients:

- 500 grams of Chicken Thigh Fillet (or chicken breast fillet if you prefer leaner meat), cut into even portions (you can cut the chicken in whatever shape you want, long strips, diced or even tiny popcorn pieces)

Marinate 
- 4 table spoons of Kikkoman soy sauce (less salt ones)
- 1 table spoon of sugar
- 1 table spoon of grated ginger
- 1 table spoon of grated garlic

For Frying
-3/4 cup of Corn flour
- A sprinkle of salt
- Vegetable oil
- Paper towel

For Serving
- Cooked rice (e.g. short grain rice)
- Salad of your choice  (optional)
- Mayonnaise (optional)
- lemon slices (optional)

Cooking Method:

- In a bowl/tupperware, marinate the chicken pieces with the marinate ingredients (soy sauce, sugar, grated garlic and ginger). Cover the bowl/tupperware with glad wrap or the lid. Leave overnight in the fridge. If you are in a rush you can marinate for about an hour before frying, but leaving it overnight in the fridge will give the chicken more flavour.

-  Spread the corn flour and a sprinkle of salt on a large plate. Coat each chicken pieces evenly with the corn flour and shake off excess flour.

- Heat a good amount of vegetable oil in a large non-stick pan (enough to cover half the height of the chicken pieces) on medium heat stove. Fry the chicken in batches. Remember to turn the chicken half way so that the chicken pieces are completely cooked. Place paper towel/kitchen tissue in a serving bowl and place the cooked fried chicken on top of the paper towel to absorb excess oil.

- I like to serve chicken karaage with steamed rice (jasmine or short grain), fresh salad, mayonnaise and lemon slice.