Chicken Nanban is a regional cuisine from Miyazaki Prefecture in Kyushu Island (most southwesterly of Japan’s four main islands) but now it’s a very common dish served all over Japan.
Nanban means “European countries” in old Japanese language. Portugal, Netherlands, and Spain are the first countries who introduced Western cultures to Japan long time ago, and Nanban Sauce was supposed to be derived from Spanish dish called escabeche.
I usually serve Chicken Nanban with eggplant and bell pepper (eggplant is a must!). If you can find shiso leaves (Perilla) in Japanese or Korean supermarket, I highly recommend enjoying Chicken Nanban with shiso leaves. The combination of the chicken, eggplant, bell pepper, and shiso is excellent! The taste starts with a refreshing flavor of soy vinegar dressing followed by the crunchy fried chicken, and the refined taste of shiso kicks in as a finale. It’s like a perfectly blended flavor symphony – I really hope you will enjoy it as much as I do!
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- 5 chicken thighs
- neutral-flavored oil (vegetable, canola, etc) (for deep frying)
- ½ cup potato/corn starch (add more if necessary)
- 1 Japanese/Chinese eggplant
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 yellow bell pepper
- 10 Shiso leaves (Ooba) (perilla) (optional)
- kosher/sea salt (use half for table salt)
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp sugar
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Gather all the ingredients.
- Pat dry chicken and cut into 1 ½ inch pieces. Combine the chicken with the seasonings in a bowl and mix well.
- Cut the bell peppers into 1 ½ inch pieces.
- Slice the eggplant into 1/2 inch pieces and soak in water for a few minutes to prevent from changing color.
- Combine ingredients for Nanban Sauce in a small bowl.
- In a large skillet, heat 1/2 inch of oil over medium high heat. Use paper towels to wipe extra water from vegetables to prevent from oil splatter. Prepare potato/corn starch in a small bowl.
- When oil is hot (it’s ready when you dip a chopstick in the oil and see bubbles around the chopstick), dredge the eggplant in potato/corn starch and remove excess.
- Deep fry the eggplant until light golden brown. Transfer it to a wire rack or a paper towel. Work in batches and do not crowd the wok. When the eggplant is done, When the eggplant is done, dredge the bell peppers in potato/corn starch and deep fry, and repeat the same for the chicken.
- Coat the eggplant, the bell pepper, and the chicken with the Nanban Sauce.
- Chiffonade the shiso leaves and garnish on top and serve immediately.
Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
Editor’s Note: Pictures updated in August 2012.
