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What Is Karaage?
I love Japanese fried chicken, or karaage or tatsutaage. I always order it whenever I have lunch or dinner at Japanese restaurants or at izakaya (Japanese gastro pub).
Japanese fried chicken is marinated with ginger juice, soy sauce, sake (Japanese rice wine) and mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine).
The end results are juicy, crispy boneless chicken pieces, bursting with the subtle good taste of the seasonings. They are heavenly and addictive!
Imagine dipping a piece of crispy fried chicken into a sweet, savory, and creamy miso mayo dressing, and then sink you teeth into the chicken, as the juice from the tender chicken comes oozing out…amazing!
Other Recipes You Might Like
- Japanese Fried Chicken Bento
- Chicken Katsu (Fried Chicken Cutlet)
- Chicken Karaage (Sesame Fried Chicken)
Ingredients for Chicken Karaage
- Boneless/skinless chicken breasts or thighs
- Ginger
- Soy sauce
- Japanese cooking sake
- Japanese mirin
- Cornstarch
- Sesame seeds
- Mayo
- White miso paste
- Apple cider vinegar
- Honey
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is the Difference between Katsu and Karaage?
Katsu is sliced breast that is breaded, while karaage is usually thigh that is marinated before frying. Additionally, katsu sauce is more of a Worcestershire sauce made from apple puree, while karaage sauce is more of a mayo sauce.
What Does Karaage Mean?
Karaage means fry, and is a Japanese cooking technique where foods are deep-fried in oil. It is usually chicken, but can also be other meat.
How Many Calories?
This recipe has 333 calories.
Serve Chicken Karaage (japanese Fried Chicken) With:
For a wholesome Japanese dinner, make the following dishes.
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Chicken Karaage (Japanese Fried Chicken)
Ingredients
- 1 lb(500g) boneless, skinless chicken breasts/thighs (cut into cubes)
- 3 inches ginger (peeled, pounded with a mortar and pestle to extract 2 tablespoons juice)
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 6 tablespoons Japanese cooking sake
- 2 tablespoons Japanese mirin
- Cornstarch (for coating)
- Oil (for deep frying)
- Sesame (for garnishing)
Miso Mayo Dip:
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 2 teaspoons white miso paste
- 2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar or Japanese rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 1 pinch sugar
Instructions
- Use paper towels to pat dry the chicken pieces and transfer to a bowl. Add in the ginger juice, soy sauce, sake, mirin and marinate for 30 minutes. Transfer the chicken pieces out of the Marinade and coat them evenly with corn starch. Shake off excess.
- Make the Miso Mayo Dip by whisking all the ingredients together. Set aside.
- Deep-fry in oil for two times. Heat up a wok/pot of cooking oil. When the cooking oil is hot enough for frying, drop the chicken pieces into the oil and quickly deep fry them until they turn golden brown. Transfer them out onto a plate and wait for a couple of minutes.
- Put the chicken back into the oil and deep-fry until golden brown and crunchy. Dish out to a plate lined with paper towels to absorb the excess oil, serve hot with the Miso Mayo Dip.
Notes
Nutrition
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
As you said, Katsu is breaded chicken, but it is first dipped in egg (and sometimes flour before that) so that the breading adheres to the chicken. No egg is used when making karaage.
The sake gives it flavor, but you can leave it out all together if you want! Great recipe!
What can I use in place of the sake?
Rice wine.
Thanks. Good recipe. Karaage chicken is my favourite style of fried chicken. I like to have plum sauce mayonnaise with fried chicken. Discovered that in Penang
Can use potato starch in place of the corn starch?
Yes.