Karaage, Japanese fried chicken

Name: Karaage, Japanese fried chicken
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Japan
Ingredients: 600 g chicken thighs, boneless, skin on, cut into 4 cm pieces; 3 tbsp soy sauce (shoyu); 2 tbsp sake; 15 g ginger, grated; 2 cloves garlic cloves, grated; 80 g cornstarch; 500 ml oil, for frying; 1 lime, cut into wedges, to serve

Chicken thigh pieces marinated in shoyu, ginger and garlic and fried with a thin, crunchy crust.

Time: 40 min
Difficulty: Medium
Per serving: R$7.90
Servings: 4 servings

Dish photo

Ingredients

for 4 servings

600 gchicken thighsboneless, skin on, cut into 4 cm pieces
3 tbspsoy sauce (shoyu)
2 tbspsake
BRAZILIAN SWAP
No sake?
2 tablespoons of dry white wine with a pinch of sugar; it is a little more acidic but carries the seasoning the same way
Wine and spirits at any supermarket
15 ggingergrated
2 clovesgarlic clovesgrated
80 gcornstarch
BRAZILIAN SWAP
No cornstarch?
80 g of potato starch, which many Japanese kitchens use; the crust is lighter and crunchier
Flour and starch aisle of any supermarket
500 mloilfor frying
1limecut into wedges, to serve

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Pocket Chef

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The Pocket Chef swaps what is missing and rewrites only the steps that change.

Karaage is the fried chicken of Japan's bars and lunch boxes: thigh pieces marinated in shoyu, ginger and garlic, coated in starch and fried until the crust is thin and crisp and the inside stays juicy. It goes well with lime, rice and a salad.

Method

1
- In a bowl, mix the chicken with the shoyu, sake, ginger and garlic.
- Marinate for 20 minutes in the fridge.
Drain the excess marinade, without drying the chicken completely, so the starch sticks.
Coat each piece in the cornstarch, pressing lightly, and shake off the excess.
Heat the oil in a deep pot to 170 °C: a wooden skewer placed in the oil should give off small bubbles around it, without browning quickly.
5
- Fry the chicken in two or three batches, without crowding the pot, for 5 to 6 minutes, turning once, until deep golden.
- Drain on paper towels.
6
- For extra crispness, return all the pieces to the hot oil for 1 minute.
- Serve right away, with the lime wedges.

Tips

Do not crowd the pot: the oil cools and the chicken gets soggy. Well-cooked thigh passes 75 °C inside; if in doubt, cut a piece open and check. Used oil can be strained and kept for one more frying.

Japan · per serving

Nutrients per serving

Calories

1,347 kcal

Protein

27 g

8% of kcal

Carbohydrate

22 g

6% of kcal

Fat

128 g

86% of kcal · fiber 1 g

Where the calories come from

protein8%
carbohydrate6%
fat86%

Pick a target per meal to compare the recipe. They are starting points, not individual advice.

By food

Nutrients of each food, per serving
Food	Qty.	kcal	Prot.	Share of calories
chicken thighs	150 g	243	26 g	18%
soy sauce (shoyu)	12 g	7	0.4 g	1%
sake	7.4 g	10	0 g	1%
ginger	3.8 g	3	0.1 g	0%
garlic cloves	1.5 g	2	0.1 g	0%
cornstarch	20 g	72	0.1 g	5%
oil	114 g	1,006	0 g	75%
lime	15 g	5	0.1 g	0%

Source: TACO (Unicamp) and USDA FoodData Central. Approximate values. Not medical or nutritional advice.

Karaage, Japanese fried chicken

Ingredients

Adapt it to what you have

Method

Tips

Nutrients per serving

By food

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