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Karaage (Japanese fried chicken) is easily one of the greatest fried chickens in the world. It’s exceptionally flavorful, juicy and ultra crispy, and absolutely worth hanging out at the stove for! Learn the simple techniques and fry up some glorious chicken at home today.
Karaage (唐揚げ), or Japanese fried chicken, is a classic dish you can find at any Japanese home, bento lunch box, street-side stalls, restaurants, or diners. Come in bite-size nuggets, anyone who has tried the fried chicken can tell you how deliciously addicting it can be.
I grew up eating a countless number of karaage, and mom’s version was always the best. Just like any Japanese home cook in her generation, mom never shied away from deep frying, especially when comes to a dish worthy to make for the family. The chicken always turned out with cracker-crisp skin and the meat absolutely something you want to indulge with great abandon. Thanks to mom, I’m able to share the fried chicken love with you. And I promise: it’s going to be really good!
How to Make Karaage (Japanese Fried Chicken)
Karaage (Japanese fried chicken) is easily one of the greatest fried chickens in the world. It’s exceptionally flavorful, juicy and ultra crispy, and absolutely worth hanging out at the stove for!
What is Karaage?
Pronounced as ‘ka-RA-AH-geh’, the word Karaage implies the food and technique of which an ingredient is lightly coated with flour and deep-fried. When you hear “karaage”, most of us assume it’s chicken karaage, but it can also be fish or vegetables.
For chicken karaage, it’s essentially bite-size chicken thigh dusted with flour and deep-fried in hot oil. With tender and juicy marinated chicken coated in a crispy shell, Karaage is a staple in Japanese home-cooked meals.
You may find this delicious Japanese fried chicken being served at:
- home – it can be a main dish or appetizer.
- diner and restaurant – karaage teishoku is a popular set meal.
- Izakaya and bar – served as an appetizer to go with a drink.
- supermarket, convenience store, and depachika (B1F – the gourmet food galore in the basement of a department store).
- bento shop – karaage bento is a popular choice
Karaage vs. Tatsutaage
Some of you may know there is a dish that is very similar to Karaage. Known as Tatsutaage (竜田揚げ), the chicken is marinated in soy sauce and mirin, coated with potato starch (katakuriko), and then deep-fried till golden brown.
Wait, isn’t it almost identical to Karaage?
As mentioned earlier, Karaage originally implies that the ingredient was simply coated with flour and then deep-fried, and there was no marinating involved. However, in recent years, the Japanese use these terms interchangeably. Karaage has more variations when comes to seasonings and a lot more flexibility in how it’s being prepared, while Tatsutaage has a signature method to go by.
4 Key Ingredients for Karaage
1. Chicken
In Japan, Karaage is typically made with skin-on boneless chicken thighs, which has more flavor than chicken breasts. However, if you really want to use breasts, that’s okay.
Here in the US, skin-on chicken thighs are always sold with bones. To save time, I usually ask my friendly butcher to remove the bones for me. Why do we need to use skin-on? The skin keeps the karaage crispy on the outside and the meat juicy inside.
2. Marinade/Seasonings
There are so many variations of marinade/seasonings available for Karaage, and this is really up to you. I make mine slightly different all the time. However, the primary base should always include soy sauce, sake, and ginger.
Sake helps tenderize the meat while ginger gives zing and removes the gamey taste.
Some variations for the seasonings include:
- garlic
- sesame oil
- mirin
- oyster sauce
- curry powder
- egg yolk
- Japanese mayonnaise (I haven’t tried it…)
Feel free to experiment with the ingredients and see what you like!
3. Coating
This is another flexibility you can work with by testing out different ratios:
- Flour – you can decide cake flour (lighter shell) or all-purpose flour (easily available in the US)
- Potato starch
- Flour + potato starch
- Rice flour + potato starch (see this recipe) – this is gluten-free!
In this recipe, I use equal parts of all-purpose flour and potato starch. I first dredge the chicken in flour and then potato starch. The flour will trap the marinade and seasonings inside the shell, and potato starch will create a crisp texture on the outside. You can premix the flour and starch, but I actually like dredging in 2 stages for the best result!
Potato starch vs. Corn starch
In Japan, potato starch (or katakuriko 片栗粉) is most commonly used as a coating for frying foods. Here in the US, corn starch is much easier to access in regular grocery stores, so that is a close substitute if you have trouble finding potato starch.
As a comparison, I found that karaage made with potato starch yields a crispier skin and texture. If you compare these two starches by rubbing them between your fingertips, you will notice the difference.
Potato starch is available on Amazon and larger grocery stores. I think it’s worth looking for it to make delicious Karaage.
Are potato starch and potato flour the same?
No, they are not the same. Potato starch is made from the dried starch component of peeled potatoes while potato flour is made from whole (raw or cooked) potatoes being dried then ground into flour.
4. Deep-Frying Oil
My recommendation for deep frying oil includes:
- Canola oil (キャノーラ油)
- Safflower oil (べに花油)
- Rice bran oil (米油)
4 Helpful Tips to Remember
- Cut the chicken into same size pieces – It’s very important that each chicken is similar in sizes so you can cook evenly.
- Don’t marinate too long! – 30 minutes is ideal for the chicken to soak in the flavors.
- Lightly coat the chicken. – Remove the excess flour. It will make the oil cloudy and doesn’t give a good texture to the chicken.
- Double fry! – Fry at a lower temperature first, let it cook with remaining heat, and lastly make it crisp at the higher temperature.
Because they are bite-size, Karaage is utterly doable at home. It may require some extra oil, but you know you would be dishing out some glorious fried chicken at home!
Craving for more fried chicken recipes?
Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want to look for substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.
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Let's make Karaage (Japanese fried chicken), one of the greatest fried chickens in the world! It’s exceptionally flavorful, juicy and ultra crispy.
- 1.5 lb boneless, skin-on chicken thighs (roughly 4-6 pieces; read the blog post)
- ½ tsp kosher/sea salt (I use Diamond Crystal; Use half for table salt)
- freshly ground black pepper
- 2 Tbsp potato starch/cornstarch (more if necessary; read blog post)
- 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour (plain flour) (more if necessary)
- 4 cups neutral-flavored oil (vegetable, canola, etc) (for deep frying)
- 1 knob ginger (½ tsp grated ginger)
- 1 clove garlic
- ½ Tbsp soy sauce
- ½ Tbsp sake (you can substitute it with dry sherry or Chinese rice wine or skip)
- ½ tsp sesame oil (roasted)
- lemon (for taste and garnish)
- Japanese mayonnaise (optional for dipping)
- shichimi togarashi (Japanese seven spice) (optional for spicy taste)
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Gather all the ingredients.
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Cut each chicken thigh into 2-inch pieces and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
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Grate the ginger (you will only need ½ tsp) and mince the garlic (I use a garlic presser).
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In a large bowl, combine ginger, garlic, ½ Tbsp soy sauce, ½ Tbsp sake, and ½ tsp sesame oil. Whisk all together.
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Add the chicken to the bowl and mix with your hands. Cover and keep in the refrigerator to marinate for 30 minutes.
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Pour the oil into a heavy-bottomed pot (I used a Dutch oven) and heat the oil to 325ºF (163ºC) on medium heat.
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Meanwhile, prepare potato starch and all-purpose flour in separate piles.
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First, lightly dredge each chicken piece in the flour and dust off the excess flour. Then dredge the chicken in the potato starch and remove excess starch.
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Continue with the remaining chicken.
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When the oil temperature has reached 325ºF (163ºC) (insert a wooden chopstick in the oil and see if small bubbles appear around it) gently submerge each chicken piece into the oil. Do not overcrowd; add 3-5 pieces at a time. If you put many pieces in the oil, the oil temperature will drop quickly and chicken will end up absorbing too much oil.
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First Deep Frying: Deep fry for 90 seconds, or until the outside of the chicken is a light golden color. If the chicken changes color too quickly, then the oil temperature is too high. Either put a few more pieces of chicken in the oil or lower the heat. Controlling oil temperature at all times is very important for deep frying. Transfer to a wire rack to drain excess oil.
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The chicken will continue to cook with the remaining heat on the wire rack. Continue with the remaining chicken. Between batches, pick up crumbs in the oil with a fine-mesh sieve. This keeps the oil clean and prevents it from becoming darker.
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2nd Deep Frying: Now heat the oil to 350ºF (177ºC). Deep fry for 45 seconds, or until the skin is nice golden color and crispy. Transfer to a wire rack to drain excess oil and continue with the remaining chicken.
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Chicken on the left is after the 1st frying and one on the right is after the 2nd frying. You can see the chicken is slightly darker in color.
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Serve the chicken hot. Karaage is often served with a wedge of lemon and Japanese mayo (sprinkle Shichimi Togarashi for a bit of spice). To store, deep fry all the chicken, let cool completely, and keep in an airtight container. You can store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and in the freezer for up to a month.
Recipe Video
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on October 10, 2012. The new video is added and the images have been updated in October 2019.
More Japanese Chicken Recipes You’ll Love:
Hi there. This is my first comment on your recipes though I have tried a few already. Just this past week I made dashi, tonjiru and sukiyaki using your recipes and they were amazingly authentic and total sellouts with hubby and my for kids. Your stunning photography certainly helps to trigger the taste buds even before the food is ready! So this comment is to thank you profusely for your contributions. I have a quick question. I love your ginger grater! Where did you get out from?
Hi Angie! I’m really happy to hear that you enjoyed my recipes that you tried! I need to retake tonjiru and sukiyaki pictures soon as they are not so appealing…but thanks for trusting the recipes and give them a try!
Ohh that ginger grater! I LOVE IT. My mom has been using that for years and I had to ask my mom to buy one and send it to me (or she might brought it with her last time). It’s nice enough to serve like that to table too. It’s made of ceramic but I have grated ginger, daikon, etc. I actually found it online… I don’t think it cost this much though. Here’s the link.
Thanks again for your kind comment!
I made this last night for my hubby and me, I made sure I made enough so I can have left over karaage for my japanese curry tonight but lo and behold, my extra karaage disappeared. A big bowl full of chicken karaage disappeared out of nowhere. Here to say that he and I definetly enjoyed this and plenty of your other recipes and I’ve been using your recipes to cure my sadness of cancelling all our Japan trips this year. Thank you very much for all your delicious recipes, I will be having a japanese dinner feast next month with my friends and I will definetly be using your recipe and making sure I tag you on it 😊
Hi Allet! Aww Thank you so much for trying my recipes! I’m so glad to hear you and your husband enjoyed this recipe. I’m sorry to hear you had to cancel your trips to Japan too. It’s so sad, but eating Japanese food at home definitely helps to stay positive. 🙂 Thank you for your kind feedback!
Wow! Thanks for taking the time to reply! I really appreciate it. And thanks for the link too. I’m maki getting one right now! We are a Chinese family and my kids are big fans of Japanese food. I’m making your crispy tonkatsu for guests tonight. Am so in love with your recipes! Keep blogging! 🙂
You’re welcome! I hope you enjoy the crispy tonkatsu with your guests. Thanks Angie! 🙂
I had chicken karaage at a local food truck earlier this month and it was delicious so I was so pleased to see this recipe on pinterest. One trip to our Asian supermarket for potato starch and I have my chicken marinating in the refrigerator. I can’t wait for dinner!
Hi Barbara! What a cool food truck to serve karaage! 😀 I hope you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you so much for stopping by! 🙂
I tried using the corn starch and it doesn’t look that appetizing as the one in the photo. I guess that’s one difference with the potato starch. The recipe is overall delicious and I can’t wait to try more of your mouth watering recipes. Cheers!
Hi KiimChee! I’ve used corn starch for sometime when I couldn’t find potato starch, and I have to say I really like how potato starch gives nice texture to the chicken karaage! Hope you can find potato starch and try again. 🙂 Thank you for writing!
Hi Nami, I have recently tried out this Karaage recipe, very nice & my family loves it. Thanks for sharing with us. So good to know a great Japanese cook around.
Hi Jessie! Thank you so much for letting me know. I didn’t receive pingback so I wasn’t aware of your post. So happy to hear you enjoyed it! 🙂
Hi there. In my experience, potato starch can be found in the kosher foods section (if your supermarket has one).
Hi Jason! Thank you so much for letting us know. I had no idea we could find in Kosher foods section! I’ll definitely inform readers if they can’t find potato starch. Thank you!!!
I am SO going to try this! I’ve never used potato starch before, but I definitely want to look for it now.
And if you use the “healthier” types of oils like peanut oil, there should be no harm in frying it.
Hi Ethel! I hope you like this karaage recipe! Hope you can find potato starch, but if not, corn starch will be okay too! Enjoy!
I made these for dinner with my boyfriend today and they went deliciously well with Korean fried rice. The boiling oil scared us a bit at first, but the results were so worth it! It was very crispy on the outside but moist and tender in the inside.
I thought it was about time I leave a comment, since I’ve been using your recipes all the time since I moved into an apartment with a full kitchen. Thanks! ♡
Hi Fumerie486! I’m so happy to hear you liked this recipe! Yeah deep frying can be a bit scary, but we can’t make good karaage without deep frying… plus, homemade one tastes better with clean oil. I love connecting with my readers and I’m glad you stopped by to leave a comment. Thanks so much for such a kind feedback! 🙂
Hi Nami, thank you for recipe. I love chicken karaage. I will have to try it out soon. I have been using your other recipes and they all turned out wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing them- I have been searching high and low for authentic Japanese recipes but had not found them until I stumbled upon your page and your recipes are very easy to follow and so delicious ! I’m so grateful !
I hope you will have time to add more yummy recipes to your collection.
Thank you.
Hi Lucy! I’m really happy to hear you like my recipes and thanks so much for your feedback! I’m so glad that you found me and I’m grateful for your readership. 🙂
Nami
May i ask what is the other flour mentioned in your recipe. Is it AP flour or cornflour?
Thank you.
Hi Michelle! Yes it is all purpose flour. Thank you for asking!
Thank you for your prompt reply. Got another qns to ask, if i don’t have sake or dry sherry, what i can replace with? Thanks.
Hi Michelle! You can use Chinese rice wine too. 🙂
Thank you very much.
As a foreigner in Japan, yours is my go-to page for accurate recipes to satisfy my husband.
I made this karaage but accidentally left it to marinade for 2 days. The results were the best fried chicken I’ve made to date. Thank you!
Hi Debbra! I’m happy to hear you enjoy my blog and thank you so much for trying the karaage recipe! Haha good to hear you enjoyed it after 2 day marinade! 😀
Hey Namiko,
My husband is a United States Marine and he used to be stationed in Japan. He ate at a place called Hokka Hokka Tei A LOT. All I know is it is a famous bento restaurant there. He is in the states now and he craves their chicken there. I have been on a mission to find a copy cat recipe to the chicken he loves there so much. They are called fried chicken balls. It was fried chicken in the shape of a ball served with a packet of lemon. Would this be most likely what they served there? If you have ever heard of this place I would love to know more about how to cook or make that chicken. 😉 going to try your recipe soon.
Hi Em! Hokka Hokka Tei is a bento shop where you can order and take out. 🙂 Their karaage looks like this:
http://www.hokkahokkatei.co.jp/pg/user/hombu_menu.php?id=548&mode=DETAIL
My Karaage recipe has garlic, but if you don’t add it, it should be similar. Hope you enjoy! 🙂
Hey Nami,
Thank you for the fast reply. My husband’s mouth is watering after looking at that pic. 😉 Thank you so much.
Thank you for this wonderful recipe, I tried it with chicken tendons today and it turned out really delicious – much better than what we ordered from restaurants. Thank you!
Hi Tania! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe with chicken tendons! 🙂 Thanks for writing your kind feedback. xo
Hi Namiko,
Just saw your recipe- looks great, can’t wait to make it:)
I was wondering why you use sake with chicken?
What is the effect of sake? I’ve noticed it in a lot of Japanese recipes.
Thanks!!
Hi Fran! Thanks so much! We use sake in cooking a lot in Japanese cuisine. There are a few reasons why we add sake. 1) Remove the odor of seafood and meat , 2) Make the food tender, 3) Add umami and natural sweetness. Hope this helps! 🙂
Hi Nami,
Ever since I found your blog, this has been my go to place for Japanese recipes. My husband had lived in Japan for a year some time ago, and we travel there whenever we have enough money and holidays saved. Both of us are big fans of Japanese food (and always have our luggage packed with food stuff when we leave, haha). I have tried many of your recipes, such as tonkatsu, oyakodon, gyudon, onsen tamago, yakisoba, okonomiyaki… All have become regular dishes on our dinner table. And I love your tips on how to substitute items in Japanese pantry. Here, up north in Finland, ingredients can be hard/expensive to find.
Today, I tried your karaage recipe for the first time. And wow, the juiciness of the chicken pieces were simply amazing!
I just want to say THANK YOU for posting such great yet easy-to-follow recipes! I have learnt so much from your blog and will keep trying new ones. Now I am heading out for a walk with my husband, to burn out at least some of those calories from deep-fried food. 😀
BR,
Hama
Hi Hama! Thank you so much for your kind feedback! I’m so happy to hear you like Japanese food! Thank you for trying my recipes!
Love your recipe, I found this on Pinterest and now I’m hooked. My boyfriend was really skeptical with the amount of garlic but it’s grown on him and he really enjoys it now. After making this 3 times this winter I’d say we’ve found a great go-to! Thanks, Ms. Shimizu
Hi Ms. Shimizu! Awesome!!!! I’m so happy to hear you and your BF enjoy this dish. Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂
Hi, I’ve followed all the instructions here but always end up with soggy chicken skin, am I doing something wrong? I have a thermometer so I’m sure I got the temperature right. The only thing is that I use different starch, but I’ve experimented with cornstarch (with the same result, soggy skin).
Hi Paul! I understand that you follow my instructions but as I’m not in the kitchen with you, it’s so hard to know which part or which ingredient could be the cause. What type of starch did you use? Corn or potato starch works, but I’m not sure about other starch. It’s really simple process, but for example you’re using just thaw chicken (very cold), the oil temperature will drop down immediately, and even though you’re bringing back the oil temp to the right temp with your thermometer, your chicken has absorbed so much oil already and it’s soggy. I didn’t mention here about chicken temperature, so you might just use very very cold chicken for example. So even though you followed my instruction, I can’t see all the process you took and it’s really hard to know what went wrong. It “should’ work, from my own experience of using this recipe for years and from feedback from other readers. Hope this helps… 🙂
Turns out it is from the starch that I used (sweet potato starch) which acts differently that potato and corn starch. Thanks for the reply!
Thanks for your reply! 🙂
Hi!
Will this recipe work in an Air Fryer? Since I’m in Japan, I picked one up. I’m lousy at frying…never turns out right!
Thanks!
Verna
Hi Verna! I don’t own an air fryer, so I have never had a chance to test it. 🙁 Let us know if you try! I’m sure a lot of people would love to hear it from you. 🙂
I am thinking of using my air fryer as well! Any luck with yours, Verna? Please let me know how yours turned out if you tried. 😊
Made this tonight. I really enjoyed the ginger and garlic flavors. The double fry method really did make the coating crispy. A really delicious way to cook chicken thighs. Thank you for the recipe
Hi Keke! I’m so happy to hear you liked it! Thank you for your kind feedback! 🙂
Hello Nami! May I adapt some of your recipes for a class I am teaching? Would be truly appreciated! (I will of course mention your name in the recipe title)
Hi Kaori! That’s very sweet of you to mention about my blog. Where do you teach Japanese cooking class? I will send my readers in your area if they are looking for an instructor. 🙂
Hi Nami! I like that your recipes are so easy yet very delicious!!
May i ask if i can prepare it early and fry it once then keep it in the refrigerator then fry it again for dinner? Will i get the same juiciness and crispiness?
Or can i keep the chicken in its marinade for days? Will it taste the same? Thank you!
Hi Nikki! Thank you so much for your kind words. 🙂 So there are few things to consider.
1) If you marinate and keep, I only recommend for overnight. It’ll be salty, and if you’re not used to salty food, you might think it’s quite salty… so if you want to do overnight, it might be a good idea to reduce the seasonings. But if you like strong salty flavor, you can do overnight and it’s okay. I don’t generally recommend to marinade for such a long time – lose chicken’s flavor and salty. Lose the balance of good taste. 🙂
2) Double deep fry works when it’s back to back. As soon as you keep it in the fridge, the chicken is cold. So I think, it’s hard to deep fry to keep the inside moisture and outside crunchy. So try to deep fry at the same time. When you do 2nd deep frying, the chicken should be warm, so without making the deep fry oil go suddenly cold, you can maintain the hot oil to crisp the outside karaage texture.
Looks like your best bet is to marinade one day before. You can make the seasoning even ahead of time to save time. Start marinating the night before, and deep fry on the day.
Or, you finish cooking – freeze (if it’s a couple of days ahead), and use a toaster oven or oven to re-heat. I do that for kids’ bento. 🙂 It’s not like freshly deep fried, but sometimes there is no other choice. 🙂 Hope this helps!
Hi Nami,
Thank you for sharing so many recipes. I tried so many that I lost count 😀 one question that I have is which recipe should I follow for karaage since the seasoning is different. I was thinking about using eggs, onions and negis like in the old recipe but the simpler version looks so tempting. Out of curiosity, why fry twice instead of once ( longer time)? Sorry if it’s a childish question.
And finaly, thank you for helping aspire people to cook and learn about other cultures food and history. You puts lots of hard work into this website. I wish you the best !
Oh i understand now for the deep fry sorry for asking twice :s
Hi Jie! Every time I make karaage, I make some minor changes (so my family doesn’t get bored). Sometimes more ginger, sometimes more garlic, etc etc…. so you can adapt as you like (and write it down so that you can improve for next round). Hope this makes sense. 🙂
Double frying for crispy texture. First deep frying is for cooking through the chicken (if it’s high temp, you will burn the outside of chicken first and inside is not cooked through). Second frying is for crispy texture. While chicken is resting (waiting for 2nd round), remaining heat will slowly cook the chicken. If you cook for a longer time, chicken will not be as tender, so you take it out and let it cook slowly inside with remaining heat. 🙂
Thank you for the quick reply! It all make sense now 🙂 I look forward to the next recipe 😀
just stopping by to say thank you for sharing this recipe Nami, my daughter loves karaage.
Hi Esther! Hope you and your daughter enjoyed this recipe! 🙂
Hello Nami! I followed your recipe and made this for my family last week and everyone loved it! Really thank you so much for always sharing your recipes with us. I’ve learnt so many dishes from your website and my family has always loved them. Please do continue to share with us. Thank you~
Hi Jojo! I’m so happy to hear your family liked it! Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂 Yes, I’ll continue to share more Japanese recipes with you and JOC readers. 🙂 Thank you for reading my blog!
Hello! I was wondering if it is possible to do something so that I can leave the chicken in the fridge for a shorter period of time, say around 10 min? I only have 1 hour to make a dish so I was hoping that there is some way I can still make this!
Sure, 10 mins or overnight (if you have time ahead of time). 🙂
One more tip, make sure to poke chicken with a fork so favors go in more!
i really love Karaage, and your recipe is so nice and easy to follow. (not to mention the lovely taste)
alas i have one problem, making them as a quick snack does not really work well for me, since i dont have a deep fryer and no bench to leave it standing around so cleanup is quite a lot of work :p
so i generally end up making enough for a full dinner (and then some)
but i could really need some tips on sauses or the like to go with it, as just plane rice on the side gets a rather boring ;( and eating just karaage, however good…. as they say to much of the good stuff IS too much of the good stuff.
Cheers 😀
Hi Birger (I’m curious how you pronounce it. [beer-ger]?)! Karaage is “usually” eaten by itself, as it is seasoned/marinated before deep frying. We don’t overpower the flavor with sauce, not to mention, we want crispy karaage.
I don’t make modification for karaage much – as we love the way it is. However I have 2 recipes on the blog that you can modify. Maybe they are not something you were looking for, but I’ll leave the link here (and these recipes are old, my photography doesn’t do good justice):
https://www.justonecookbook.com/chicken-karaage-with-sweet-chili-sauce/
https://www.justonecookbook.com/chinese-style-karaage-don/
Maybe one day I’ll think of a fun way to enjoy karaage. 🙂
I made this today ! And it is so crunchy yummy goodness also love the garlic =D Thank you Nami for this recipe
Hi June! So glad you liked it. Thank you so much for your kind feedback, June! xo
First time cooking chicken karaage tonight and it tasted so…… good. Thank you for sharing such an amazing recipe!!
Hi Wai! I’m glad you liked it! Thank you for your kind feedback!
Hi Nami, Thank you for your recipe! I love the addition of garlic. It’s my fav version of karaage yet!
So I marinated a double portion of chicken with the intention to leave it in overnight and fry it for lunch tomorrow. However, I later read that leaving it too long in the soya sauce mixture will draw out too much moisture from the chicken (!!) I’m now torn between frying it as a midnight snack or leaving it in the fridge as an experiment., I hope it won’t turn out overly salty or lose too much moisture! Any advice? Thanks!
Hi Fiona! If it’s a Japanese recipe (made by Japanese cook), you might notice most of marinate time is not overnight. It’s common to marinate 30 to 60 minutes for Japanese cooking. I know other Asian cooking marinate for a longer time, but I think Japanese like to keep the food’s original taste and not overwhelm with the seasoning. In general though. There are some overnight marinate recipes BUT salt level should not be too much. In your case, since you already marinated… why don’t you add a bit more sake to dilute a bit? Before you deep fry, pick up the chicken pieces and transfer to a baking sheet or something big and then sprinkle potato starch (don’t put potato starch in the marinade). You don’t have to dry with paper towel etc but this will at least get rid of some excess liquid. Hope that helps!
Dear Nami, thank you so much for your prompt reply. I did add some sake to dilute the marinade, but when I fried the karaage the next day, the flavour of the marinade was indeed a tad too strong, masking the taste of the chicken. But it wasn’t overly salty, and still very delicious. Interesting point btw, about the different Asian marinating times, I never thought about it but you’re right! (I’m a budding (Singaporean) cook, learning the art of various Asian cuisines!)
I don’t remember my mom marinate meat overnight and it’s pretty standard practice to marinate a short time, except for thick meat etc. Japanese often thinks marinating for a long time is too salty for our taste. 🙂
Hi Nami…could I use tapioca flour or rice flour as I don’t have any potato starch. Thank u
Hi Sue! You “can”. But traditional Japanese karaage usually use flour or potato/corn starch. 🙂
Hi, Nami, thanks for your wonderful recipe. May I know please what kind of dipping I should serve with Chicken Karaage? All the best!
Hi Sai! Usually, when you order chicken karaage, they serve with shichimi togarashi (Japanese seven spice) or/and Japanese mayonnaise. Some restaurants can be creative with their own style sauce but that’s rather rare. We squeeze lemon and eat as it is. 🙂
Thanks for your kind reply. 🙂
The rinsing the chicken step seems unnecessary. Back in the old days people used to rinse chicken to “clean” it, but modern food safety says that’s unnecessary and the rinsing actually spreads raw chicken juice around the citchen which is obviously a bad idea.
Hi Matt! Thank you, I updated my recipe. 🙂
Do you use dark soy or light soy sauce for this?
Hi Mark! Japanese don’t have “dark” or “light” soy sauce… but I think Japanese soy sauce belongs to light kind of Chinese soy sauce? It’s just regular Japanese soy sauce. 🙂
hi I am starting work soon and need exciting lunches that wont cost me much.
This looks delicious for a packed lunch with rice. But I have a couple questions if that’s alright:
With this fried chicken, can it be frozen and for how long?
If using a microwave, how long would you say I’d have to reheat it for to keep it safe to eat?
Would it work if I substituted chunks of tofu instead?
Thanks,
Laura
Hi Laura! Here are my answers to your questions.
1) I freeze my karaage too (in fact my kids lunch tomorrow is defrosted karaage). Since it’s deep fried it’s best to be used in 2 weeks or so as oil oxidize and it won’t be tasty.
2) I do not recommend using a microwave to reheat deep fried food. It gets soggy and won’t be crispy. Use your oven or toaster oven (that’s what I use – super convenient) to make it crispy. You will see the food gets oily and looks like exactly you just deep fried. Then you can finish reheating. To pack in lunch, I recommend to cool down so it won’t get soggy with condensation.
3) Tofu for chicken? Sure! Make sure to drain tofu (press with heavy object or gently microwave a little bit to dehydrate tofu) before deep frying. 🙂
Nami, Karaage is my all time favourite dish, and the first Japanese meal I ate in Japan when we went there in 2011. However, I’ve recently had to give up gluten for health reasons (autoimmune disease), so I’m asking/begging to please please please give me a gluten free version, just like your gluten free tempura! Pretty please! Love your blog, hugs and best wishes from Australia xxx
Hi De LM! I’m so sorry to hear that. You can easily change this to GF version. Use 100% potato starch by replacing flour with potato starch. Use GF soy sauce (Kikkoman has a good one). Then you can still enjoy this delicious dish. I may create a separate recipe one day, so it may help people who search GF version. 🙂 Thank you for your request!
Can I use chicken breast?
Hi Ames! Definitely you can, but it will be drier in texture. 🙂
Potato starch is in the Kosher section of your supermarket – Especially during Passover (April) it is in the Passover Section with the rest of the special foods.
Thank you for the information, Shirley!
Thank you so much for your recipe. I cooked this tonight and my family enjoyed it. It cooked up crispy and the flavour of garlic and ginger was really nice. I should say I used cornflour as that is what I had on hand, when I get my hands on potato flour I will write to you again.
Hi Anastasia! Thank you so much for trying this recipe and I’m so happy to hear your family enjoyed this recipe! Thanks for your kind feedback. xo
hi. this looks tempting. what sauce usually goes with it?
Hi Junksies! Karaage is usually served with Japanese mayo and lemon wedges. 🙂
I like the method of double-frying the chicken. This seems similar to making fries, where the first time in the oil partly cooks it, and the second time makes the outside super crispy.
I also like the tip to scoop out the oil periodically. I’ve seen bits of fried crust on the bottom after frying, but didn’t think anything of them. But, it makes sense that these bits burn the longer they’re in there, darkening the oil (and making it more bitter).
Thanks for sharing! I’m in the process of setting up a food blog, and I like the way you have things on your site.
Hi Rob! Thank you for your kind comment. I believe cleaning the oil is really important when deep frying. It’s a little bit of extra work that keeps the oil tastier and healthier. 🙂
Good luck with making a food blog! How exciting! Do let me know when you finish setting up your blog! 🙂
How can you call this gluten free when there is wheat flour in the recipe (“all purpose flour”) ?
Hi Jackie! You’re reading the wrong karaage recipe. My gluten free Karaage recipe is here: https://www.justonecookbook.com/gluten-free-karaage/
Thank you Nami so much. I followed this Karaage and my husband loves it much.
Really thanks to you for a lot of detail recipes
Hi Yen! Thank you for trying out this recipe and for your kind words! I’m so happy to hear your karaage came out well and your husband enjoyed it. 🙂
These turned out great! The flavor was spot on, and I think the use of katakuriko/potato starch was key. One minor snafu that I did run into was that my chicken pieces were not fully cooked through after the first 90 second fry (which I didn’t realize until I had finished all of the initial fry batches). To fix this, I had to fry the chicken for a longer period of time for the second fry – I think they turned out just fine, but a good reminder to make sure the chicken pieces aren’t too big. Thank you so much for this recipe!
Thank you for trying this recipe Emi! If you prefer bigger karaage pieces, then we have to start with slightly lower heat (not low heat, just slightly lower) so the chicken won’t burn too fast which make you worry aobut taking it out faster. Either way works, but it’s easier with smaller pieces. 🙂 I’m glad to hear you enjoyed them. Thank you!
Made this tonihht. This turned out amazing. I actually cooked it in my actifryer airfryer. Was delicious. Had some Karaage last night at a restaurant, and the one I made tonight was on par.
Hi Jeff! Awesome! You make me want to get an airfryer… Thanks so much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback. 🙂
This was seriously delicious and very easy to make. I never fry food at home but I love Karaage and always wanted to make good fried chicken. This turned out better than at most restaurants.
Thank you
Hi Funke! I’m so happy to hear your karaage came out well! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! Thanks for your kind feedback. 🙂
Thank you for sharing this recipe. I’ve been trying all your recipes and my LO liked them.
Wondering, can I use air fryer in this recipe? Instead of deep frying?
Hi Dor! Thank you so much for trying this recipe as well as others from my blog. I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed them. 🙂 Some JOC readers told me they used the air fryer and it worked really well. I don’t own one so I can’t testify… 🙂 Hope you give it a try and let us know!
I didn’t see this in any of the other comments I got to…if someone else mentioned it then my apologies: Instead of using a garlic press, i just used the same micro plane I use to grate the ginger. It produces a kind of thicker slimy paste with all the other flavoring ingredients. I felt it helped capture the garlic better. What are your thoughts on this?
P.S. New Favorite karaage…
Thank you for trying my recipe, Mike! I love my microplane too! I get a bit scared of using it for my garlic as I may grate my nail or skin (since garlic is small). 😀
I made this dish for my family on my own. And they absolutely loved it. I am a huge fan on Japanese culture and food and I can’t wait to make other recipes too.
Hi Catherine! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for your kind feedback and I hope you enjoy cooking Japanese food at home!
Arigato. I will enjoy cooking Japanese food. And I hope to travel to Japan one day.
Hope you can too! 🙂
Thank you! I just made it tonight – it’s one of our family’s favourite meals. Paired it with fresh steamed rice, miso soup and a crunchy salad. Oh, and a cold Asahi of course! Just like a lot of good things in life, it takes some time and prep – but well worth the effort.
Hi Jackie! What a great dinner! Thanks so much for trying my karaage recipe. I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed it! 🙂
Turned out wonderful. Tastes like the real thing ♡
Hi Audrey! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed it and thanks for your kind feedback. xoxo
Just wondering— can I make this with 1) chicken breast or would it be too dry? And 2) would this taste good air fried?
Hi Susan! Here are my answers. 1) Chicken breast is drier than chicken thigh, but you can definitely use it. 2) I don’t own an air fryer so I can’t really tell… Sorry!
This was easy for this novice cook to make. The whole family loved it. The step by step instructions are so helpful. I am eager to try another recipe. Thanks Nami!
Hi Angel!!! I’m so happy to hear you tried this recipe! Thank you for your kind feedback! xoxo
What is the reason for the second dip into the oil to fry again? What if I didn’t do that and just the one time deep fry? Is it just for extra crispness?
Hi Marie! The second time is for a higher temperature to make the outside crisp as the first time is lower temperature. Each frying has different purposes. If you want to do it just once, the first batch should be a bit higher temperature and make sure your piece of chicken is not too big. Otherwise outside will get dark too fast but inside won’t be fully cooked (even considering residual heat cooking inside).
I made this today and it tasted superb. Deep frying is really fun and I was able to use the oil for the croquettes too! Mine weren’t too crunchy (maybe I need to add more flour) but they sure were flavoursome, which made up for it. Thank you so much!
Hi Julia! Maybe try on higher heat before you take out the chicken. Higher temperature makes it crisp/crunchy texture but you don’t want to start using high heat because inside won’t get cooked. 🙂 Thank you so much for your kind feedback! xo
Made this tonight and i must say this was better than karage served at most places i have tried. The chicken was juicy, had flavor, and was crunchy. I will definitely make this again.
Hi Annie! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for trying this recipe! xo
Thank you for this, Nami! It’s always saved whenever I want to indulge!~ I mine turned out white-ish because I think I put a lot of potato starch but I’m sure It’ll be better next time. Even if they’re not as golden, your tips gave a very very crunchy outside and satisfyingly juicy inside chicken!
Hi Venisse! I’m glad to hear my tips were helpful. Remove excess flour before putting into the oil (to keep the oil clean). Thank you so much for trying my recipe! 🙂
Your recipe and ingredients are the best–your instructions are easy to follow…now I can make Karaage Chicken like a Master Chef like you…thanks…domo arigato..
Hi Gregory! Aww I’m so happy to hear that you enjoy my karaage recipe! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! 🙂
Hi Gregory! Thank you for your sweet comment! I’m so happy you enjoy making Karaage at home! 🙂
Hi Nami,
I love your recipes! I was just wondering if you have any air fryer recipes?
Thanks!
Anne
Hi Anne! I don’t own an air fryer… I need to get rid of something in order to get one and store in my pantry. 😀
I’ve made these twice, and both times they came out excellent! The only ingredient change I make is substituting the sugar and sake for Mirin.
Hi Topaz! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! I’m happy to hear you enjoyed it! 🙂
It really helps to see a video of the Karage recipe process. Recipes narratives are good to read. Seeing them in video form is exponentially (I was a financial analyst in my working life) more effective in learning a new recipe. Your Website is well done in a very delightful way. Your travel blogs are very informative.
Thank you, thank you.
Hi Allan! Thank you so much for your kind words! I’m really happy to hear our videos are helpful. 🙂 Thank you for your encouragement and support. It means so much to us!
Hi Nami, I remember making chicken kaarage from this site and looks a bit different than this recipe. I remember using around 8 cloves of garlic? Does the recipe changed? If so, can I have old recipe as I really like it.
Hi Caroline! I’m happy to hear that you liked that version.
Here’s the old recipe:
1 lb boneless skin-on chicken thighs
salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup potato starch/cornstarch (you won’t need this much)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour (you won’t need this much)
neutral flavor oil (vegetable, canola, etc) (for deep frying)
Seasonings:
1 inch ginger
8 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp sake
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp sugar
Garnish:
Lemon (for taste and garnish)
Japanese mayonnaise (optional for dipping)
Shichimi Togarashi (Japanese seven spice) (optional for spicy taste)
It look good
Thank you, Carl!
Needed to use almost twice the amount of flour and starch recommended. Also, the chicken wasn’t super crispy even after the second fry. The skin crisped up nicely but the rest of the chicken piece didn’t. However overall the chicken inside was very good. I think next time I might try a higher temperature for the 2nd fry.
Hi Ismail! Thank you so much for trying this recipe!
From the way you describe, it seems like your deep-frying oil was a bit too low like you mentioned. It should become crispy all around. I measure the flours (and all ingredients) precisely, but if your chicken’s surface area is more than mine, it’s possible that you need more (As I stated in the recipe, but roughly it should be similar amount. You have to remove excess flour so your oil won’t get cloudy from the flour). 🙂
Any way to make crispier? Just made this and the flavors were perfect (used potato starch), but it was a little less crispy than I’m used to. For serving, I put this on top of rice with some pickled vegetables and a soft boiled egg, really solid meal.
Hello P! Thank you for trying this recipe! I think you need to deep fry at a higher temperature. It won’t get crispy if the oil is not an optional temperature. Hope this helps! 🙂
Nami-san
I really enjoy your blog and making delicious Japanese food. Can I deep fry karaage one day a head of time and then heat up in the oven before serving?
Hi Joe! Sure you can do that. Don’t reheat for too long to keep the chicken moist. Always best, right after deep fry while it’s still moist and crunchy… but I know it’s not always possible. 🙂
Thank you for sharing this recipe! It was delicious, and I plan to make it again. (Each of your recipes that I have tried turn out delicious!) Many thanks. =)
Hi Kaitlin! I’m so glad to hear that! Thank you for your kind words about my recipes. 🙂
Does your recipe work on 10 lb bag uncooked chicken wings?
Hi Mabel! I’m posting a fried chicken wing recipe next week. You can use wings for this recipe if you like. If you get a chance, please check my tips on chicken wings when I publish next week. 🙂
Hi – I know I’m posting this comment a few months after this recipe’s release, but I was just wondering if you can make this recipe with skinless chicken thighs – as the only boneless thighs I can buy are also skinless, and I’m not sure if I’d have the time to de-bone standard skin-on thighs. Thanks in advance if you can reply 🙂
Hi Jude! You can use skinless chicken thighs if you prefer. You can also ask the butcher to debone for you, which I always do (they debone faster than me and it’s free service!). 🙂
How do you suggest to freeze this?
Hi Aimee! Deep fry, let cool completely, and then put in an airtight container to store in the freezer. 🙂
Hi Nami San,
Making Chicken Karaage from your recipe now…
Can we keep on frozen for uncooked Chicken Karaage? Should we keep them before or after 1st deep fry?
Hi Michelle! I apologize for my late response. No, we should deep fry first then let cool before freezing them. 🙂
I love this recipe. Made this a few times and shared it with family and friends and they all love it. My sister even made it into a sandwich like the tonkatsu sandwich. I’m really glad I discovered this website! I’ve made quiet a few recipes off here and they’re all becoming meal staples.
Aww!! Thank you for trying out many of my recipes and it meant so much to me!!! Hope you continue to enjoy cooking Japanese food at home. And please let your sister know that I like the Karaage Sandwich. YUM!!
Hi! Can’t wait to try this recipe!
Where did you get the white plate/tray with navy blue rim? I’ve been looking for something like that!
Hi Jen! It’s called a butcher tray and I got them on Amazon.
https://amzn.to/3gNae3z
Hi Nami! I couldn’t open that link. Is this one similar?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NWDSTHK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_6Y.3EbQPC0R58
Hi Jen! That says “serving tray” and it might be bigger than what I have. This is the right size I have: https://amzn.to/2BQFVcF and this one not Amazon prime: https://amzn.to/3gNCW3c
Thanks Nami! 🙂
Absolutely delicious!!!
Thanks so much for trying my recipe, Tessa! So glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
Hello Nami San,
I will be making this Karaage tonight, can’t wait (!!); however, where can I buy the half circle wire basket used to serve the chicken? It fits perfectly on the dish! Thank you
Hi Carol! I got them in Japan (Kappabashi: https://www.justonecookbook.com/tokyo-kappabashi-kitchenware-town/). It’s for placing Tonkatsu and all the deep-fried foods. So convenient!
Nami, thank you for your chiken karagi recipe, I love chiken karagi. You have change the way I cook chicken.
Hi Alan! Thank you so much for your kind feedback! I’m so glad you enjoy this recipe! 🙂
Delicious recipe and the easiest time I’ve had deep-frying in my cast-iron yet! Didn’t have sake and mixed up the coating process (cornstarch first then flour), but man did they turn out delicious and perfectly cooked, tender, and crispy. And the flavor of the marinade comes through so well! Will be making this again next time I want fried chicken.
I am digging through my pantry and found a bag of tapioca starch – can I use this instead of potato starch? Very excited to make this for my husband’s birthday!
Hi Judi! As far as I heard, tapioca starch and potato/cornstarch are different… let me know how it went if you ended up trying. 🙂
Hi,
Just wondering do you think it would be possible to cook this in an oven?
Hi Dana! I tried different methods but the result hasn’t come out to be even similar to the real deep-fried karaage, so I haven’t figured it out yet. 🙁 Hopefully I can figure out… It’s just nothing as close to the real deal Karaage. 🙁
I’ve used your recipes for several years now here in Kyoto, so I just wanted to say thanks so much for this recipe and all your other recipes. I have tried many recipes from books here in Japan, but I always come back to your recipes and our family loves the results. Also, I have used this karaage recipe and then tried baking the chicken on a baking sheet in my convection oven and this is also very good. Of course, deep frying is best, but air baking them is also good. Thanks again. ^.^
Hi Ono Family! Thank you for trying many of my recipes! I’m so happy to hear your family enjoy my recipes. Thank you for your kind feedback!
Wow I love your cooking blog! I am trying my hand at your Karaage recipe but I am a little confused. Why is there two deep frying? Do you mean we have to deep fry the chicken twice? So after the first frying, we put the pieces back for second frying at a higher temperature?
Thank u!
Hi Sammi! That’s correct, first deep fry to cook inside. The remaining heat will cook inside slowly while waiting for the second batch. Then with higher heat, deep fry to crunchy texture outside. Thank you for your kind words. 🙂
Looks great, I will be trying this soon!
I just want to add a word about deep-frying at home. I know a lot of people shy away from it because it gets expensive using all that oil and they don’t know what to do with it afterward. Obviously it can be reused a couple of times, with diminishing results because the oil starts getting “dirty”.
Several years a read a piece on Serious Eats about cleaning up that oil, and it’s surprisingly simple:
For each quart of oil, sprinkle 1 tsp of gelatine powder (like Knox brand) in a half a cup of water. Gently heat to dissolve. Whisk into cooled oil. Chill overnight in the fridge.
When you pour off the (now very clean) oil, there will be a firm, jello-like layer at the bottom containing all of the impurities from the oil. It’s gross, discard it!
Using this method, I have been able to reuse the same oil over a dozen times.
Hi Dave! Thank you so much for sharing this information with us! I’ve read that article before. In case anyone wants to read it’s here:
https://www.seriouseats.com/2016/06/clean-cooking-oil-with-gelatin-technique.html
Great recipe! Thank you 🙂
Hi Dylan! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. 🙂
I enjoyed this recipe!
Thank you so much for your kind feedback, Linda!
Love your recipe! My kids and hubby loved the Karaage chicken. We are a big fan of Japanese cooking! Thank you for sharing your recipes to us. Can’t wait to try other recipes!
Hi Ribka! Thanks so much! I’m so happy to hear your family enjoyed this dish. Hope your family will enjoy more Japanese food in the future! 🙂
Really excited to try this tonight. Huge fan of your recipes and this’ll be the 5th one I’ve tried. Can you tell me where you found the small wire rack for your plate? It’s so cute! Also, I see you have a cookbook on Amazon. Looking forward to picking it up. 🙂
Hi Tanisha! That small wire rack is from a kitchen equipment store in Kappabashi, Tokyo. Unfortunately, I haven’t found it here. 🙁
https://www.justonecookbook.com/tokyo-kappabashi-kitchenware-town/
I’ve been craving Japanese food, which I can’t get because of quarantine in my country. Takeout just isn’t the same. So for dinner, I made this karaage, eggplant agebitashi, and tamagoyaki, all using your recipes (oh and your awase dashi recipe too!). They were all so delicious! I even had oyakodon for lunch. I’m ecstatic because I missed the taste of Japanese food a lot. Thank you so much!!
Hi Andrea! Wow, you’re making all these dishes and soon you won’t need to go to the Japanese restaurant anymore! 😀 Great job! I’m so glad you liked the recipes. Thank you for your kind feedback!
Hi Nami,
I just saw season 2, episode 3 of the 2014 Midnight Diner series, and noticed that they hand mixed the flour/starch directly into the bowl of marinated chicken rather than dredging. Are there any advantages/disadvantages to doing it like that? (Other than one less pan to clean!)
Here’s a link to the series because it’s listed separately from the Netflix-filmed episodes, and Netflix search isn’t great: https://www.netflix.com/title/80113541
Hi Will! Yes, we do make like that too and I sometimes do that. I do recommend throwing away the marinade before adding the starch/flour, so that you won’t be requiring more starch/flour than necessary. And make sure it’s coated well, and not too wet because you don’t want the oil to splatter.
Another awesome fried chicken recipe! 😉 I actually left the marinated chicken in the fridge more than 30mins and it still tasted great. Not sure why you put a disclaimer to not do so? I had to wing it on the level of hotness of the oil since I did not have a fry thermometer. Think if I did and followed your recipe even more it would be better. Still it’s one of the best homemade fried chicken we have had. 😉 Thanks Nami!
Hi Sheena! Thank you for trying this recipe! In Japan, we really care about the ingredient’s natural taste, so we typically do not marinate for more than 30 minutes (maybe 60 mins at most?). Although you sometimes encounter to marinate more than that, I’d say it’s rare. We are more worried about the chicken gets salty and overpower the flavors. So I’d say expectation is different – while here more sauce and more flavors are better (and people talk less about the chicken’s quality or its flavor). I added a tip on inserting a chopstick in the recipe step. If you see tiny bubbles appear around the chopstick, it’s ready to deep fry.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/how-to-deep-fry-food/
Hi Nami
Always loved (and still do love) your recipes. With this one, how would you recommend reheating the karaage after it’s been in the fridge overnight? Thinking of bringing it to work and there’s only a microwave there. Would this be a viable option or would quickly deep-frying it the next day be better?
Thanks!
Hi Lucas! Thank you for your kind words. Even though you deep fry the next day, by the time you eat at the office, it will be less crunchy. That’s how it is with deep fried foods. So if I were you, I would use the oven to reheat in the morning and bring it to work (but don’t close the lid of your lunch box right away…. you have to let cool completely to avoid forming condensation). Or microwave your refrigerated karaage but you can’t microwave till hot. It’ll be soggy and won’t taste good. Almost like bring it to “warm”… a bit tricky. For most Japanese, we eat room temp karaage from the bento. We enjoy it as it is (not like out of the fryer but still bento’s karaage). 🙂
Dear Nami-san,
Thank you so much for your blog! Has anyone told you that your recipe is perfect for airfryer too? I marinated my chicken as per your recipe and it turned out perfectly! Juicy, crispy and tasty! My family love it!
Hi Samantha,
Yay! Thank you very much for writing to us! You are the second person to notify us about the air fryer result! So now we know for sure, this recipe really works for air fryer as well. 🙌
Thank you so much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!
Haloo, Nami! Thank you for your recipes! They always turn out so well when I try it 🙂 I was looking for your other chicken karaage recipe (the one with the egg) , but the link leads to this recipe too. Would you happen to still have somewhere here? I like the texture of it better. Thank you!
Hi Lorn,
Thank you for trying many of Nami’s recipes and for your kind feedback.
I think you are looking for “Chicken Tempura (Toriten) とり天” recipe. ?? 😉
https://www.justonecookbook.com/chicken-tempura/
Hi Nami! I looove this recipe. I’ve made it many times, and all were very successful.
Now I have an air fryer, I want to give it a try making using air fryer. Have you ever used air fryer to make karaage? If so, do you have any suggestions how to go about making it?
Hi Evelyn,
Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!
We currently don’t have the recipe used an air fryer, and we can not give you much advice.
If you try it one day, please let us know how it goes!😉
Hi Nami!! I’m thinking about making Karaage . For the chicken, can I remove the skin of the chicken? My family usually doesn’t eat the skin. Also, do you have any tips for deep frying inside the house?
Hi Sophia!
Yes. You can remove the skin of the chicken if you like.
As for deep frying inside the house, make sure to turn on the stove/range fan and keep your children or pets out of the cooking area! 🙂
This recipe turned out beautifully – family loved it – Thank you
Hi Margaret!
Thank you very much for trying this recipe!
We are so happy to hear your family loved it! Thank you for your kind feedback.🙂
Love the recipe! I’ve made it multiple times and hubby raves about it. We sprinkle salt, black pepper, and some five spice powder once it’s done and pair with kewpie mayo. Thank you for the recipe 🙂
Hi Jean!
Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback! 😊
Hi Nami,
This recipe sounds delicious! I want to try it but have never deep fried anything at home- afraid of mess, etc. How many times do you reuse the oil? How do you know when it’s time to stop reusing the oil? Have you ever used the type of deep frying pot with a stainless steel ring on top to decrease splashing? How do you store the oil in your fridge?
Thank you so much!
Hi Lisa,
Nami has a good post for you!
To deep frying for the first time, Please check out Nami’s post, “How To Deep Fry Food.”
https://www.justonecookbook.com/how-to-deep-fry-food/
We also recommend checking the Food Safety Information from USDA.
https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/65f762d0-e4d0-4278-b5cb-2836854a3eda/Deep_Fat_Frying.pdf?MOD=AJPERES#:~:text=Store%20the%20used%20oil%20in,%2C%20or%20smell%2C%20discard%20it.
We hope this is helpful and soon you can enjoy making Karaage at home!😊
Thank you for the link to the old post and the USDA link! Very informative and helpful.
Hi Lisa,
We are glad to hear it was very informative and helpful!♥️ Happy cooking!☺️
I made this for the family tonight and it was delicious. Flavor was on point. I used skinless chicken thighs and was slightly disappointed because there wasn’t much of a crust. Was looking forward to the crunch. How can I get the crispy crust?
Hi Shirley,
Thank you very much for trying this recipe!
To achieve the crispy Karaage, we recommend using skin-on chicken, as Nami mention in this post.
We hope this is helpful, and you will give this recipe a try again with skin-on.🙂
Too bad they’re not gluten free:(
Hi Ellen,
Nami has gluten free Karaage recipe! https://www.justonecookbook.com/gluten-free-karaage/
We hope you enjoy this!💕