Chicken Karaage

chicken karaage recipe | www.iamafoodblog.com

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5 from 19 votes

Bite sized, super juicy, intensely flavorful, with a crispy, cracker-y crunch.

Prep Time10

Cook Time15

Total Time25

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Japanese

Keyword: chicken, fried chicken

Servings:

Calories: 380kcal

Ingredients

1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into 1" cubes
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sake
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp ginger minced
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 cup potato starch
1/4 cup cornstarch
High heat oil for deep frying

Instructions

In a bowl, marinate the chicken in the soy sauce, sake, sugar, ginger, and garlic for 30 minutes at temperature, in a slightly cool spot. Letting the chicken rest at room temp means that the chicken won’t drop the temperature of the oil, which means that it’ll cook up crispier. Also, it’ll cook faster than if you cook it cold from the fridge. If you are air frying or baking, add a 1/2 tablespoon oil to the marinade.
Place the potato starch and cornstarch in a bowl and, working in batches, toss and coat several pieces of chicken, making sure they are well coated. Alternatively, put the potato and cornstarch in a bag or container, add the chicken, and shake to coat. The chicken should be well coated and look fairly dry.
Deep Fry Instructions (see notes for air fried and oven baking instructions)
Prepare a wire cooling rack over a paper towel lined rimmed baking sheet. Heat up 2 - 2.5 inches of oil in a deep heavy bottomed pot until it reaches 325°F. It doesn’t need to be too deep, it depends on the size of your chicken. Use a pair of tongs to gently add a couple of pieces of chicken to the hot oil, being careful not to overcrowd. Fry in batches until lightly golden, about 1 1/2 minutes.
Remove from the oil and let rest on your prepared wire rack. Repeat with the remaining chicken until all of it has been fried once.
Turn the heat up to 350°F and fry the chicken a second time around until deeply golden and crispy, another 1-2 minutes.
Enjoy as soon as possible!

Notes

Air Fryer Chicken Karaage
Lightly oil or use cooking spray on the air fryer basket. Place the coated pieces of chicken in the basket, with at least 1/4” of space in between pieces. Lightly spray the tops of the chicken with cooking spray. Cook at 400°F for 5 minutes, then flip and lightly spray with extra cooking spray. Cook for 5 more minutes at 400°F. If your pieces of chicken are large, you might need an extra minute or two. Let the chicken cool for 5 minutes, then air fry for an extra 5 minutes at 400°F to crisp it up.

Oven Baked Chicken Karaage
Heat the oven to 450°F. Oil or use cooking spray to fully coat a wire rack in a foil lined baking sheet. Place the coated pieces of chicken on the rack, with at least 1/4” of space in between pieces. Lightly spray the tops of the chicken with cooking spray.

Bake for 20 minutes, then flip, lightly coat with extra cooking spray and bake for an extra 5 minutes. The pieces of chicken should be golden brown, crispy, and cooked through.

Nutrition