Kara age means dry fried, but it refers to a marinaded fried chicken which is very popular in Japan for bento boxes, dinner, festivals and kids parties. Small pieces of chicken are marinated in a mix of soy sauce, garlic, or ginger, then lightly coated with a seasoned wheat flour or potato starch mix, and fried in a light oil — similar to the preparation of tempura. In my recipe I deep fry the chicken twice to make it extra crunchy but it isn’t necessary.
This is my mum’s recipe, where she chooses to use egg to make the chicken juicier. If you are allergic to egg, you can make it without and it’ll still be tasty
Ingredients
500g chicken thigh (or breast, but thigh is tastier!)
1 egg
2 cloves of garlic (grated)
1 thumb of ginger (grated)
3 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs sake
2 tsp sugar
1 tbs mayonnaise
Salt & white pepper
6 tbs potato starch
Step 1
Wash the chicken well under running water – get rid of any blood or white sinew. Then dry with a paper towel and cut into bit size pieces. Beat the egg, then add all the other ingredients except the potato starch in together with the chicken in a bowl. Mix well, then sprinkle the potato starch on top. Cover with cling film then put in the fridge for at least 3-4 hours. I left mine overnight.
Then fry in shallow oil on medium (170 degrees) heat until the colour starts to brown. I took the chicken out at this stage, raised the oil temperature, then refried for extra crispiness for a minute at high temp (190-200 degrees). This stage isn’t necessary, but make sure you check the chicken has cooked through properly – best way to do this is to take a piece of the chicken and poke it with a tooth pick. If the juices run clear, you know the chicken’s done.
I love this dish! I find it too hard to put my chopsticks down whenever I order it at a restaurant
Thanks for putting the recipe up, now I can try to make it myself at home
Me too Stephanie! Such a moreish dish, especially with a little squeeze of lemon over the top and a side of Japanese mayonnaise
Hi, I have some trouble in finding potato starch where I come from. All i can find is Corn Starch. Can I used this instead? or are there other alternatives?
I would really love to try this dish
Hi Lara. Yes, the two are interchangeable in this recipe. Let me know how you go!
I just made this recipe and I absolutely love it! I did use regular mayonnaise instead of Japanese mayonnaise because I didn’t know that there was any other kind of mayonnaise until I perused the rest of your site, but I will definitely be getting some for the next batch!
Yes, definitely give it a try with Japanese mayonnaise – it takes it to the next level
Hi, is there any alternative to sake? Is it possible that I use xiao xing wine rather than sake?
As long as that wine isn’t sweet it should be fine