Today, I’d like to share with you how to make crispy karaage (Japanese style fried chicken) from Season 1 Episode 5 of The Pet Girl of Sakurasou（さくら荘のペットな彼女）, as well as some tips to make it crispy!
Can you fry karaage chicken to a crisp anyway? If it doesn’t stay crispy for long and becomes sticky after a while, you need to check my recipe out! I think the appeal of karaage chicken is its juiciness and crispiness.
The karaage chicken in The Pet Girl of Sakurasou looks very simple. It often serves with vegetables like the capture below.
What is Karaage?
Karaage is a dish in which chicken is seasoned by soy sauce or salt, garlic and ginger. Then it’s lightly coated with flour or potato starch, and fried in high-temperature oil. It always ranks high on the list of favorite dishes among Japanese people. It is a classic menu item loved by men and women of all ages, now and in the past.
Karaage chicken can be served as a side dish at home, purchased at supermarkets and convenience stores, or eaten casually at Japanese style pub, Izakaya. Since it tastes good even when cold, it is also useful as a side dish for lunch boxes.
What is the 3 tips to making it juicy and crispy?
- Marinate for only 20 minutes
You only need to marinate it for about 20 minutes! Have you ever heard that if you marinate the meat longer, it will soak up more flavor and taste better? Unfortunately, this will cause the meat to lose its umami and juiciness. The longer you marinate it, the more water will be released from the meat due to the principle of osmosis. This will cause the chicken to lose moisture and the meat to become tough.
- The magic ingredient is rice flour!
Many recipes explain that before deep-frying, you should sprinkle a thin layer of flour or potato starch. This will still taste good, and it will be crispy right after frying. It’s not wrong at all. However, if you can keep it crispy longer just by replacing it with rice flour, there is no reason not to use it.
- Start frying at a low temperature and finish at a high
Pay attention to the oil temperature as well. It’s very important to start frying at a low and finish at a high temperature. This allows the meat to retain its juiciness and the outside to be crispy.
Information
| PREP TIME: 20 mins | COOK TIME: 20 mins | TOTAL TIME: 40 mins |
| COURSE: Side Dish | CUISINE: Japanese | SERVINGS: 4 people |
Ingredients
- 680 g chicken thigh
- 3 tbsp rice flour
- 1 tbsp potato starch or cornstarch
- 500 ml oil as your choice
Seasonings
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp cane sugar
- 1 tsp mayonnaise
- 1 knob grated ginger
- 1 clove grated garlic
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Cut the chicken thighs into slightly larger than bite-sized pieces.
- Put the chicken and all the seasonings in a bowl and stir well. Then marinate for 20 minutes.
- Put the rice flour and potato starch (or cornstarch) into another bat or bowl and mix well.
- Cover the meat with flour, letting excess powder drip off. At the same time, heat the oil of your choice to 160 degrees in a deep pan (this will prevent oil splashing). **At this point, be careful not to cover all the chicken with flour. Put the flour on only the meat that can be fried in the pan at one time. This is because the flour absorbs moisture and causes the meat to not be crispy.
- Fry until the both sides are light golden brown. Then place them on a piece of kitchen paper or a grease-draining strainer. Cook on the residual heat for about 3 minutes.
- Raise the heat at a high temperature of about 190 degrees and fry again.
- When the both sides are golden brown and the chickens are crispy, place them on a piece of kitchen paper or a grease-draining strainer to remove excess oil. The key is to make them crispy in a short time.
