Chicken Karaage

CHICKEN KARAAGE (SESAME FRIED CHICKEN)

Karaage or Chicken Karaage is a fried chicken dish popular in Japan. This homemade karaage recipe is easy, delicious, and requires only a few ingredients. 

The result is juicy, crispy chicken that tastes just like in Japanese restaurants! Karaage is a Japanese fried chicken in which small, bite-sized chicken pieces are marinated and then fried until crispy. 

Karaage is a trend item in Japanese restaurants here in the US. It is commonly known as an appetizer or part of a Japanese combo or bento meal; Fried chicken with sesame is another name. 

Use chicken drumsticks or chicken drumsticks for best results. Marinate the chicken in soy sauce, Japanese cooking sake, ginger, garlic, and sesame oil for 15 minutes. Coat each chicken breast generously with potato or cornstarch and then fry the chicken. 

They should be brown on the outside and juicy and flavorful inside. To make the best karaage, marinate the chicken for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight, to allow the seasoning to permeate the chicken. Serve the chicken with lemon wedges and mayonnaise. 

Squeeze the lemon juice over the karaage and dip in the mayonnaise. This recipe has a low-calorie count of 361 calories per serving.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pound (0.4 kilograms) boneless, skinless chicken breasts/thighs, cubed
• 6 tbsp Japanese cooking sake
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 3″ (7cm) fresh ginger, peeled and pounded with a mortar and pestle (the aim is to extract 2 tablespoons ginger juice)
• 1 tsp sesame seed oil
• corn starch
• oil suitable for deep frying

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. I suggest drying the chicken first with paper towels and place in a bowl. Add sake, soy sauce, ginger juice, sesame oil, and marinate for 30 minutes, preferably 2 hours. Transfer the chicken pieces from the marinade and coat them evenly with cornstarch in a plastic bag, such as a ziplock. Shake off the remaining cornstarch.
2. Heat a wok/pan with cooking oil. Observe if the cooking oil is hot enough for frying (176°C to 190°C), place the chicken in the oil, and quickly fry until it floats. Transfer them to a plate and wait a few minutes. Reintroduce the chicken to the oil and fry again until golden and crispy. Transfer to a paper-lined plate or bowl to absorb excess fat, and serve hot with a lemon wedge and mayonnaise.