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.

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.

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 Many Calories Per Serving?

This recipe is only 361 calories per serving.

What Dishes To Serve with this Recipe?

For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.

Yakitori Recipe

Miso Soup

Japanese Meat and Potato Stew (Nikujaga)

Agedashi Tofu

Yield: 2 people

Chicken Karaage (Sesame Fried Chicken)

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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 50 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 pound (0.4 kg) boneless and skinless chicken breasts/thighs, cut into cubes
• 6 tablespoons Japanese cooking sake
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 3 inches (7cm) fresh ginger, peeled and pounded with a mortar and pestle to extract 2 tablespoons ginger juice
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• corn starch
• 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 corn starch, 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 350°F - 375°F (176°C-190°C), 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 Information

Yield

2

Serving Size

2 people
Amount Per Serving Calories 361Total Fat 8gSaturated Fat 2gUnsaturated Fat 0gCholesterol 145mgSodium 1774mgCarbohydrates 6gFiber 1gSugar 1gProtein 51g