Karaage (唐揚げ) Japanese Fried Chicken Recipe

What is Karaage?

Everyone, no matter where they’re from, seems to eat fried chicken in some way, shape, form, or fashion. Whether it’s Korean fried chicken, Kentucky fried chicken, pollo frito (which can have several meanings), or hat yai.

Karaage is Japanese fried chicken. I’ve found it to be crispier and lighter on the breading than American fried chicken and has a bit of aromatic flavor from fresh garlic and ginger.

Instead of using a buttermilk marinade, karaage uses a marinade made of Japanese staples like soy, sake, and mirin. If you’ve read my post about 10 Essential Japanese Pantry Staples then you know all about this. If not, you should read it!!! 🙂

After marinating overnight (or a few hours, nobody will hold it against you), karaage is coated with a mix of corn or potato starch and flour to make it extra crispy and prevent the karaage from becoming oily, even after sitting out for a while.

The perfect accompaniment to karaage is a a simple lemon wedge. Karaage is about the crispy light coating, the juiciness of the chicken, and the garlic and ginger used in the marinade.

A lemon perfectly balances out the richness with acidity without overpowering anything else.

To add a bit of visual contrast and a small kick I also recommend topping karaage with parsley and a sprinkle of shichimi/nanami togarashi (Japanese seven-spice)

Ingredients for Karaage

Chicken – Boneless skin-on chicken thighs are the best way to make the juiciest karaage possible.

Sake – The Japanese cooking wine tenderizes and removes gameness from the chicken. You can buy it at Asian grocery stores, Amazon, or on Weee for a great price.

Soy Sauce – As in many Japanese recipes, soy sauce provides saltiness and umami.

Mirin – For just a touch of sweetness and flavor. If you don’t know what mirin is, read about it here.

Kewpie Mayo – The mayo lubricates the chicken, keeping the inside juicy and the outside crispy. You can buy this at many Asian grocery stores or online.

Garlic and Ginger – Finely mincing (or microplaning) these ingredients to release their aromatic oils, and make them unnoticeable texturally.

Corn Starch and Wheat Flour – In Japan, cooks often use wheat (AP) flour and katakuriko (potato starch), but cornstarch has the same crispy effect, and is much easier to find.

Karaage (唐揚げ) Japanese Fried Chicken Recipe

Time:

1 hour*

Yield:

8 servings

Cuisine:

Japanese

*Does not include marinating time

Ingredients

1200 grams of chicken thighs, boneless, skinless t into 1 1/2″ chunks
40 grams (2 tbsp, + 2 tsp.) of soy sauce
30 grams (2 tbsp.) of sake
10 grams (2 tsp.) of mirin
20 grams (4 cloves) of garlic, minced
20 grams of (1 ½” knob) ginger, minced
30 grams of (2 tbsp.) kewpie mayo
100 grams of cornstarch
100 grams of flour
High smoke point oil for deep frying

Other

Lemon wedges, for serving
Parsley, for garnish
Shichimi togarashi or furikake, for serving

Directions

Start by cutting the chicken and removing any excess skin and tendons. Cutting it into 1 1/2″ pieces ensures the chicken is still juicy when fried while maintaining plenty of surface area to crisp up.

2. Once the chicken is cut place it into a bag for marination. Massage in the soy sauce, sake, and mirin before adding the kewpie mayo and aromatics (garlic and ginger).

3. Marinate the chicken for a few hours, or overnight.

4. After marinating add the cornstarch and flour to the bag, close, and shake until the chicken is completely coated.

5. Heat a neutral oil to over* 340 degrees Fahrenheit (170 C). Add the chicken in small batches, maintaining the oil temperature at 340. Fry for 3 minutes, flip and fry for 2 more minutes.

6. After a total of 5 minutes, transfer the cooked chicken to a wire rack, and repeat in batches until all the chicken is cooked.

7. After all the chicken has been fried once, heat the oil to a little over* 375 degrees F (190 C). Put in about 1/3 of the chicken for a second fry, just for a minute, then replace on the wire rack..

As you remove the karaage, let any excess oil drip off before moving it to the wire rack.

8. Repeat with second-fry with the remaining chicken, then serve immediately with lemon wedges, parsley, and a pinch of shichimi togarashi.

*When you add the chicken to the oil, the temperature will drop, so it’s best to heat the oil above the target temperature, and monitor as needed,

Karaage (唐揚げ) FAQs

Karaage is Japanese fried chicken. It’s defining features are a marinade using Japanese seasonings along with garlic and ginger to flavor the chicken. The breading has a high starch content, making it light and crispy.

Several small things work together to make the juiciest chicken. Here’s some things to keep in mind:

Use chicken thighs, NOT breasts, and preferably with the skin on
Cut the chicken into large chunks. If you cut the chicken to small, the inside will overcook before the outside crisps up
Do not overcook the chicken. Watch the chicken at all times, time yourself, and use a thermometer for best results.
Marinate before hand. The salt in the marinade will make sure the chicken retains its juice, and enzymes in the ginger tenderize the meat (per Creator Syndicate).

Yes, you can. Although it’s not as crispy the next day, leftover karaage is often used in bentos eaten at room temperature. To revive the crispy texture when reheating you can re-fry it, air-fry it, or use the oven.

Good karaage is all about a juicy and tender interior matched by a crispy exterior. If you follow this recipe, that should be no problem, and all it needs is a little bit of lemon and a bit of finishing seasoning like shichimi togarashi, furikake, or just a bit of sea salt. if you want to serve a sauce with it my go-tos would be a spicy mayo; kewpie as a base and seasoned with either red cayenne, sriracha, or wasabi paste.

One of the most desirable aspects of fried food is there crispiness. Here are some tips for the crispiest karaage:

Fry twice, at different temperatures. The first fry is a lower heat fry that cooks the chicken almost through evenly. The second, quick fry is when the chicken gets crispy
Use cornstarch and flour. If you use only flour the breading will be chewier and not as crispy, and if you use only cornstarch it will be very crispy, but will become oily as the karaage cools (per Kewpie.co.jp). A mix will ensure crispiness and no oily mouthfeel.