Chicken karaage is the Japanese version of fried chicken that is insanely delicious- light, crisp, flavorful, and moist. It has a universal flavor that is not too exotic, yet it differs from fried chicken in the US, China, and other countries. It is great as a main dish, an appetizer with drinks, an item in the bento box, and perfect for takeaway sets or picnics.

Karaage chicken was adapted from Chinese cuisine and has assimilated into Japanese culinary culture. Preparation starts with marinating the bite-sized boneless pieces of chicken thigh meat, which are lightly coated with potato starch and deep fried until golden brown.

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👉 How to prepare the perfect karaage

Karaage is easy to make at home. All the ingredients are easy to find in the markets. It only takes fifteen minutes (excluding marination time) to prepare. Here are the steps:

❶ Preparation

1. Chop some ginger and garlic finely.
2. Add the ginger, garlic, soy sauce, and sake in a bowl.

❷ Marinate the chicken

1. Score the skinless side of the chicken thighs in a crosshatch pattern. Be careful not to cut through the meat.
2. Cut the chicken into 2.5 cm long bite-size pieces, leaving the skin on for extra crispiness. Skin-on chicken thighs are best for making karaage.
3. Marinate with ginger, garlic, soy sauce, and sake and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (better overnight)

❸ Coat with flour and starch

1. Drain off any excess liquid from the chicken. Dredge the chicken meat into the potato starch and wheat flour combination. Dredge each in the flour for the second time to get an even and sufficient coating. Leave them aside, then dip them in the flour once again.

❹ Deep-frying

1. Pour sufficient vegetable oil into a heavy-bottomed pot or wok enough to submerge all the chicken pieces. The oil temperature should be around 360 °F /180 °C.
2. Shake off the excess flour. Carefully place the chicken pieces in the hot oil. Do not crowd the pan so they have enough space to move around.
3. Deep-fry the chicken until cooked and it turns golden brown, about 5-7 minutes. Stir occasionally with chopsticks to avoid the chicken pieces sticking together.

❺ Drain on a wire rack or paper towels

1. Remove the chicken pieces with a slotted spoon once they turn golden brown.
2. Drain the chicken pieces on a wire rack or a plate lined with paper towels.

🍽️ How to serve chicken karaage

Japanese chicken karaage is best as a side dish or appetizer. It is perfect for lunch boxes or a summer picnic. It is usually served with lemon juice or mayonnaise. Kewpie mayo is the most common dipping sauce for karaage.

🗄️ Storage

Chicken karaage can be frozen and uncooked. Store the marinated chicken in a freezer bag or an airtight plastic container. When you want to deep-fry the karaage, defrost the chicken in the fridge and continue to deep fry.

🔍 Which is the best coating for karaage- potato starch, cornstarch, or wheat flour?

Original Japanese karaage is deep-fried by coating the chicken with potato starch or a mix of potato and wheat flour. The potato starch creates a lasting layer of crispy coating around the karaage, making it perfect for bento lunch even after it becomes cold.

Cornstarch is a good alternative to potato starch, where potato starch is hard to get. Cooks have developed various combinations of potato starch, corn flour, and wheat flour for karaage recipes. These flours are used by native Japanese, too, and all produce good results, albeit results may vary in texture and the degree of crispiness.

Note: This preparation is different from another crowd-pleaser Japanese food: tempura. Tempura is deep-fried with a wet batter, whereas karaage is deep-fried by coating it with a dried flour mix.

A simple test

The following is a simple taste test of three combinations for the coating of karaage- potato starch, cornstarch, and a mix of potato starch and wheat flour to find out which one I prefer. The appearance and color of all combinations are identical after deep-frying with the same pot of oil, temperature, and duration.

• Cornstarch alone has a denser and crunchy texture than wheat and cornstarch after cooling for 15 minutes.
• Karaage with potato flour and potato/wheat flour combination has a slight feeling of raw flour to bite, which I prefer as it is a nice feeling in the mouth.
• The coating of potato and corn flour without the wheat flour is denser, whereas the combination of potato starch has the lightest and crispy crust.

My choice: The potato starch/wheat flour combination is the best. I like the slightly floury feeling to bite and the light and crispy crust compared to corn flour alone. And that is why I use a combination of potato starch and wheat flour in my recipe. The difference is marginal. You can use any of the combinations to achieve the result mentioned above.