Delicious bite-size chicken karaage seasoned with the Japanese all purpose seasoning, Shio Koji! Crunchy, tender and flavorful, this is one of my favorite chicken recipes.
Recently I shared one of my favorite recipe Braised Herb Chicken, that I make with this amazing condiment, Shio Koji. Today I used the same condiment to make Chicken Karaage.
Now, if you are thinking about trying shio koji for the very first time, I highly recommend testing it with this chicken karaage recipe. I’ve made chicken karaage countless times for my family, but it’s never tasted this good! As you bite into the crispy chicken, you can taste the garlic along with delicate umami flavor from the shio koji.
Shio Koji (塩麹, 塩糀) is a rice malt (koji) that has been fermented with sea salt (shio). It is a live food that is rich in enzymes and unlocks the umami flavor in foods.
The texture looks like porridge and has a subtle taste of both sweet and salty. It is often used in place of salt to enhance all kinds of foods. It marinates and tenderizes meat and can be used to season fish and vegetables (read more about it here). (Photo Courtesy: Hikari Miso Co., Ltd.)
To get the Shio Koji Karaage recipe, click here over at the Hikari Miso’s website. Thank you for reading my blog, and enjoy cooking with shio koji!
Note: If you cannot find shio koji, use 1 tsp. salt instead for this recipe.
Hikari Miso products are now available on Amazon and Japanese grocery stores.
- 1 lb boneless skin-on chicken thighs (1 lb = 450g) (cut into 1 inch pieces)
- 4 tbsp Hikari Miso Shio Koji
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 1 tsp grated garlic (grated or crushed)
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- ½ cup potato starch/cornstarch
- neutral-flavored oil (vegetable, canola, etc)
- Lemon wedges (to serve)
- Combine the chicken with Hikari Miso Shio Koji, ginger, garlic and soy sauce in a bowl or large plastic bag and marinate for at least 30 minutes (or up to 1 day).
- Heat up a pot of cooking oil for deep-frying. Ideal temperature is about 320-335F (160-170C).
- When the oil is almost ready, add the potato starch in the bowl or plastic bag with the chicken. Mix and coat the chicken with the starch.
- Gently drop each piece of chicken into the pot and deep fry until golden brown.
- When it’s done, transfer the chicken onto a plate lined with paper towels. Continue with a new batch to deep fry. Serve immediately with slices of lemon.
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Hikari Miso. To read more about my partnership with Hikari Miso, click click here.
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Hi Nami, I hope you and your family had a wonderful holiday. I was wondering if you’ve ever made the shio koji karage by baking? Was trying to find a healthier cooking method rather than frying?
Hi Randy! Thank you so much for your kind words. 🙂 Karaage by baking! Hmmm… I haven’t done it but I have seen it before. I think it’s possible – Let me know if you try it. 🙂
Hi Nami just wondering where to buy shio koji in Australia? I am in Melbourne, thanks cheers stella
Hi Stella! I hope you can find it! Do you have a big Japanese supermarket? If you do, I am pretty sure you can find it… shio koji has been very popular in Japan and if there are a lot of Japanese (especially from Japan) shopping at the store, they should carry it. 🙂
Shio koji sounds like an amazing product to have in my pantry! I can just imagine the umami flavor….mmmmm! Thank you for sharing your review!
Thank you Donna! I tried other shio koji brands too, but so far I like this brand best (I’ve been using their miso for the longest time and I love it!). 🙂
You recently mentioned a beautiful white jar with a small bird perched on top. Could you remind me where I could purchase it? Thank you so much.
Hi Carolyn! Trying to remember…. You are not talking about shio koji jar (bottle) right? Do you know in which recipe/post I showed the white jar? Did I mention in Facebook? I remember…did you ask this question on Facebook? I remember someone mentioned about bird perched on top and I had no idea what that meant, but now since you are asking… 🙂
Hi there,
So after reading your post I decided to get some shio koji and try this karaage as we eat chicken karaage about once every two weeks (small kids, you know the drill). The recipe says to marinate the chicken in the shio koji for 30 mins + but nowhere does it mention when to add the soy sauce/ginger/garlic that is in the list of ingredients. I just added it to the marinade but you may want to correct the recipe for others. Unless I missed something, which is also very possible (^_^)
Hi Emmi! No, you were right! It was completely missing from the recipe I wrote (but I used them in the recipe of course), so now it’s all updated. Thank you SO much for finding the mistake and letting me know. I hope you enjoyed this karaage with shio koji. 🙂 Thank you again!
Hi. Mami
Thank you very much for your recipe ,it’s inspire me to cook.
My son love japanese food that I do for him.thank you very much
Hi Potjamas! Thank you so much for your kind words! I’m happy to hear your son enjoys Japanese food! 🙂
Hello,
You know i’ve been wondering something for a while now.
While I was cooking american fried chicken with drumsticks, I was wondering if I couldn’t make karaage out of with (with the bone still on), intead of using chicken thighs.
What do you think ? Would it work ?
Hi Andrea! Drumsticks are with bone and it takes more time to cook it through than small pieces of chicken. So if you want to deep fry, you need to start from a lower temperature otherwise, it will be cooked on the outside but raw inside… I use drumettes to deep fry but usually avoid drumsticks because it’s more difficult. 🙂
Your website and cookbook have been my inspiration as I have spent most of this year investigating Japanese cuisine. I have tried several of your karaage recipes, but used a variation of this Shio Koji Karaage recipe, and your Cherry Blossom Cookie and Castella cake recipes to audition for Masterchef in Atlanta in October of this year. Everyone who has tried my karaage has loved it, including the Masterchef tasting judge who passed me through to the next level for interviews. Although I was not selected for the show, I am convinced that it was your easy-to-prepare recipes that gave me an edge in the competition! Thank you! I look forward to trying more of your wonderful recipes!
Hi Michelle! Thank you so much for your kind words and WOW! Masterchef competition!!! YOU are very inspiring!!!! I’m honored and happy to hear that you tried my recipes and you enjoy my website! Thank you for your encouraging words. Good luck to us! I hope to see you in the future competition! I’ll be watching you then!
fijn en lekker recept ook gezonde samenstelling doe zo verder proficiat
Dank u, Paul!