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Chicken Karaage (Sesame Fried Chicken)

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Karaage or chicken karaage is a Japanese fried chicken dish. This homemade karaage recipe is easy, delicious with simple ingredients. The end results are juicy and crispy chicken that tastes just like Japanese restaurants!

Chicken Karaage - crispy Japanese sesame fried chicken, the best chicken karaage recipe that is better than Japanese restaurants | rasamalaysia.com

Chicken Karaage Recipe

What is Karaage?

Karaage (唐揚げ) is Japanese fried chicken where small bite-sized pieces of chicken are marinated and then deep-fried to crispy perfection. Karaage is a very popular item at Japanese restaurants here in the US. It’s often served as an appetizer or as part of a Japanese combo or bento meal, it’s also called sesame fried chicken.

Bowl of Chicken Karaage

How To Make Karaage

  • Use chicken thighs or chicken legs for the best chicken karaage. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces.
  • Marinate the chicken with soy sauce, Japanese cooking sake, ginger, garlic and sesame oil for as little as 15 minutes.
  • Coat each piece of the chicken generously with potato starch or corn starch.
  • Deep fry the chicken. They should be brown on the outside but the meat should be juicy and bursting with flavors.

Crispy Chicken Karage in bowl

The Secret To Good Karaage

For the best karaage recipe, you should marinate the chicken for at least 2 hours or best overnight so the flavors seep inside the chicken meat. Serve the chicken with mayonnaise and lemon wedges. Squeeze the lemon juice on top of the karaage and dip it with the mayonnaise.

How to make karaage

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Chicken Karaage (Sesame Fried Chicken)

Chicken Karaage - crispy Japanese sesame fried chicken, the best chicken karaage recipe that is better than Japanese restaurants.

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Marinate Time 30 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 2
Calories 578 kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 pound boneless and skinless chicken breasts/thighs cut into cubes
  • 6 tablespoons Japanese cooking sake
  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 3 inches fresh ginger peeled and pounded with a mortar and pestle to extract 2 tablespoons ginger juice
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • Cornstarch
  • Oil for deep frying

Instructions

  1. Use paper towels to pat dry the chicken and transfer to a bowl. Add in the sake, soy sauce, ginger juice, sesame oil and marinate for 30 minutes, best for 2 hours. Transfer the chicken pieces out of the marinate and coat them evenly with cornstarch, in a plastic bag such as Ziplock. Shake off the excess cornstarch.
  2. Heat up a wok/pot of cooking oil. When the cooking oil is hot enough for frying (350F - 375F), drop the chicken into the oil and quickly deep fry them until they float. Transfer them out onto a plate and wait for a couple of minutes. Put the chicken back into the oil and deep-fry again until golden brown and crunchy. Dish out to a plate or bowl lined with paper towels to absorb the excess oil, serve hot with a slice of lemon and mayonnaise.
Nutrition Facts
Chicken Karaage (Sesame Fried Chicken)
Amount Per Serving (2 g)
Calories 578 Calories from Fat 252
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 28g 43%
Saturated Fat 3g 15%
Cholesterol 130mg 43%
Sodium 1680mg 70%
Total Carbohydrates 23g 8%
Sugars 0.5g
Protein 48g 96%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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55 COMMENTS... read them below or add one

  1. this is something i never try b4, sake in marinated chicken, ok will try for sure..but one question, why need to deep fry the chicken 2 times? any specific rational behind? if i only fry once, it wouldnt be as crispy as frying it twice? i try the taiwanese 盐酥鸡, i only deep fried once too.

    Reply

  2. Look Yummy!!..Shall try to cook this over the weekend..Had something similar to this in some taiwanese eatery in Melbourne. Yeah its called Salt n Pepa chicken.

    Reply

  4. Hmmmmmmmm this is my favourite to order in Japanese restaurants too! Thanks for the recipe!

    Would you be posting a recipe for Chawanmushi anytime soon? I have been craving for that!

    Reply

  5. I love chicken karaage/sesame fried chicken. I checked out your recipe and it seems really easy to prepare these chicken karaage at home…sweet. I will give your recipe a try. Thank you.

    Reply

  6. I love this too! I used to have this at a Japanese restuarant in Perth called Samurai. Not sure if it’s still there.

    Reply

  8. Looks yummy!
    My Japanese friend advised me to use potato starch. It gives better and crispy crunchiness after deep-frying in the oil.

    Pepsi

    Reply

  9. I remember the wonderful street markets around Asakusa — a jumble of food stalls and electronics! We went there on our very first day of our very first trip to Tokyo — what an introduction to the city and food culture.

    Reply

  13. All – thanks for your comments, please keep them coming.

    Mrs. Engui – yes, I will be making chawanmushi today. :)

    Limpepsi – thanks for your tip, I will use potato starch next time. :)

    Reply

  14. Sesame fried chicken, I love this so much. I didn’t know that there is no sesame in the cooking process. LOL, but it tastes very good and juicy. Thank you for your recipe!

    Reply

  15. i like fried chicken very much. the best is the boneless fried chicken. this one is almost the same as the one sell in KFC. i also can eat the whole bowl within minutes. :)

    Reply

  16. My Japanese friend had a perfect chicken karaage recipe. She used to make it for me. I love chicken karaage because the chicken pieces are always juicy, sealed in the corn starch coating, and the ginger, sake, and soy flavors are just great.

    Reply

  18. I love chicken karaage, but what I found brings out more flavor is to use a tbsp of ground ginger alond with the cornflour to coat the chicken, it gives it an extra punch.

    Reply

  19. I fry up a batch of Kaarage from time to time. Love the stuff! Incidentally my recipe also comes from Just Hungry. I never added sesame oil but I do throw in chopped spring onions. Never thought to double fry them though it makes total sense! I’ll try to do that next time! Thanks for that tip!

    Reply

  20. I love karaage and am surprised to see that the recipe is so simple! What kind of oil would be best for frying these mouth-watering nibbles?

    Reply

  22. Hi! I would like to ask if I could substitute the sake for something else? This is because I don’t take alcohol.

    Reply

    • When you are cooking, most if not all, of the sake evaporates. Alcohol evaporates at 60 degrees Celsius, remember, while water does at 100 degrees celsius.
      So you have nothing to worry about. By the time it is finished cooking, the alcohol has evaporated.

      Reply

  25. I have difficulty extracting ginger juice. Do you think its possible to replace ginger juice with ginger powder?

    Reply

  27. LOVED this recipe, Rasa. My friends and I have always been ordering this kind of thing at the boba houses dotting Los Angeles and San Francisco.

    I do have the problem of making the chicken a little too dry and a little too salty, though. Next time I’ll trim less fat off and shorten the 1st and 2nd fry times by a few seconds.

    Those were my mistakes, though–Everything you jotted down was absolutely a pleasure to make and eat.

    I do have a suggestion for an alternative to mayonnaise and it’s a pepper dust the guys down south use after the second fry while the pieces are still warm:

    3 tbs Cayenne
    2 tbs white pepper
    1 tbs black pepper
    1 tsp Chinese 5 spice
    1 tsp garlic powder
    1 tsp salt

    lemon wedges to cut the pepper taste

    Again, thank you–trying this recipe again soon.

    Reply

    • I make karaage all the time. If I don’t have sake, I use Mirin (which is sweeter than sake so I use 3/4 mirin and 1/4 rice vinegar or any other vinegar). You can also use any white wine instead of the sake but add a pinch of sugar.

      Reply

  30. cant wait to do this!

    never thought of using corn starch instead of flour for the coating – ill bet itll be crispy without being heavy or oily.

    as far as the ginger juice, would a coffee or spice grinder help? or a food processor and then a strainer? even you have to use extra ginger to make the required amount, im sure itd be worth it.

    i currently have a bottle of sweet soy rather than “regular” soy. do you think it would add to or detract from this dish if i used it?

    thanx.

    45.0

    Reply

  31. Hello,from over a year im checking Your blog and trying recipies and i love it,i got Your book as well,but i was wondering which of Your recipies i can use for food to take to work,i have 24h shifts so i need somthing what i can reheat.I was wondering if that chicken is good for this or to eat it cold?

    45.0

    Reply

  34. I learn this recipe when I was the cook in the japanese restaurant.

    Add in sake, ginger juice, soy sauce, sesame oil (optional), kiwi juice, garlic (fresh), white pepper, and also add 1 egg.

    Cheers!

    45.0

    Reply

  36. Hi Bee, I dont know how or why but I found myself with a bottle of Walnut Oil in kitchen. I dont know what to do with it. Can you help ?? Thank you.
    Suannee

    Reply

  37. This is the best chicken I ever made! Exceptional flavors. I didn’t have all the ingredients on hand but it still turned out great. This recipe is a keeper. Thanks!

    55.0

    Reply

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