Crispy Japanese Karaage – Japanese Fried Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
400 g Chicken Thigh Fillets
10 g Grated Ginger
4 tbsp Potato Starch
for serving Lemon
as needed Cooking Oil
2 tbsp Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Sake (Cooking wine)
Instructions
- 1
Step 1 – Prepare and Season the Chicken
Cut the chicken thighs, including the skin, into bite-size pieces (about 3–4 cm cubes). Grate the ginger with the skin on. Tip: For better cooking results, let the chicken sit at room temperature for about 20–30 minutes before cooking. This helps the chicken cook more evenly. Place the chicken in a bowl and add soy sauce and sake. The chicken does not need to be completely covered by the marinade. Squeeze the grated ginger and add only the ginger juice to the bowl. Mix well and let the chicken marinate for 15–20 minutes, turning the pieces once or twice so the seasoning spreads evenly. After marinating, discard most of the marinade. Lightly press the chicken pieces and pour off the liquid, leaving a small amount at the bottom of the bowl. Note: Leaving a little marinade helps the coating absorb flavour and creates a more savoury karaage crust. Add potato starch and mix well until the chicken is evenly coated and slightly sticky. The chicken is now ready for frying.
- 2
Step 2 – Fry the Chicken
Heat the oil to 170°C. Add the chicken pieces to the oil starting at a slightly lower temperature. Before placing each piece into the oil, spread the chicken skin smoothly around the meat. This helps the chicken cook more evenly and improves the final appearance. Once the chicken is added, the oil temperature will drop slightly. Increase the heat a little and fry the chicken at 160–170°C for about 3–4 minutes. Remove all the chicken from the oil and let it rest for 4–5 minutes. During this time, the heat inside the chicken continues to cook the meat gently. Meanwhile, increase the heat and raise the oil temperature to 180–190°C. Return the chicken to the hot oil and fry again for 1–2 minutes until crispy. Remove from the oil and serve immediately. Garnish with lemon wedges if desired.
Tomoka's Note
Fresh ginger really gives the best flavour, but if you don’t have a grater, ginger paste works perfectly well too. I sometimes use ginger paste when I forget to buy fresh ginger. It still turns out delicious, and it saves time as well. Double frying is a classic technique used in Japanese karaage to achieve that crispy texture. If you try to cook the chicken longer in one go because you're worried it might be undercooked, the outside can become too hard. The double-fry method helps avoid this problem. By frying the chicken once, letting it rest, and then frying it again, the chicken gently finishes cooking from the inside during the resting time. The second fry then makes the coating beautifully crispy. Once you try this method, you'll see how easy it is to make crispy Japanese karaage at home.