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/corn starch
- neutral flavor 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.
Yum! Nami, this looks and sounds delicious! I am such a big fan of Japanese karaage (I like it much better than any other kind of fried chicken from any other style/country), but I’ve still never tried tasting or cooking with Shio Koji. You’ve inspired me to finally buy some with this use of it! 🙂
One day I really must make a version of the crispy chicken dish.
Nami, I always love your recipes! They always inspire me to learn how to cook! 🙂 *I’m intrigued with thid shio koji sauce.
This chicken looks so crispy, and I am sure this tastes as good. I have started experimenting with Japanese condiments as you know, and while some of them have been grand failures (I threw out a miso ginger soup yesterday 🙁 ), others are turning out to be quite neat, though not as nearly perfect as I want them to be. But I really want to keep trying new things. So this is another bookmark 🙂
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. 🙂
Chicken araage is one of favorite dishes at my local izakaya places here in NYC. The description of shio koji sounds fantastic. I’d love to try it in my kitchen one day. Thanks for sharing!
Shio Koji sounds really interesting! I’ll be on the lookout for it – this chicken dish looks amazing! Thanks for this.
Nami, this looks really good. I have never tried this and I can’t wait to try it out sometime.
Hope you had a great long weekend sweety.
Lovely post Nami, the chicken definitely looks delicious and crispy…wish I could try this amazing sounding shio koji too!
The chicken looks incredibly crunchy and perfectly deliciouas now you have me really curious about this condiment – shio karaage – must be quite good if you recommend it!
Have a lovely week, dear friend!
this post made me craving even more for my shio koji that actually on shipping!
i guess this koji could be good on beer batter too…..
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 is new to me, though interesting use of it in Karaage. Looks so crunchy and yummy! Wish I could win a bottle of it :p
This chicken looks so crispy and delicious! I will definitely be on the look out for Shio Koji – it sounds wonderful! Thanks for sharing Nami and hope you had a great Thanksgiving holiday:)
Sounds like it would add some the perfect flavor!
Oooo I was planning to make chicken karaage tomorrow too. Wish me luck!hehe 😉
Very addictive I bet-) Inspiring dish!
Sounds amazing! I have a relative currently living in Tokyo and I am going to ask him to bring me Shio Koji on his next visit.
I can’t tell you how much I’d love to have this in front of me (and me being extra lazy to cook today has nothing to do with it). Lovely as usual, Nami 🙂
Nami, your fried chicken looks amazing. I am drooling over your pics!
This looks amazing, will try to find this ingredient in the stores here. Hope I will find it.
Sounds delicious.
This is one interesting condiment! Very healthy and flavorful.
Cheers,
Rosa
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!). 🙂
Another karaage recipe, I just made one recently now I have to make another one with that secret ingredient. Hopefully I can find that here in Asian shops.
から揚げ食べた～い！しかしこの頃はウエストあたりが気になります。塩麹はまだ残っていて、すぐにでも作れるという誘惑が、この写真を見るとさらに強まります。さて、秘密のプロジェクト早く知りたいですよ。楽しみ。
My sister and I were salivating over your chicken karaage yesterday and very intrigued by shio koji…hopefully we can find it locally here in Sydney 🙂
Your chicken karaage looks so good, Nami! Can we trade cookies for dinner? 😉
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… 🙂
Your description of this chicken dish has me totally sold. I just want you to come make it for me, mkay? Hee hee 🙂
This chicken looks incredible. I can taste the crispy, saltiness of it. And the shio koji is definitely something to look into. Thanks, Nami. Hope you’re enjoying the holiday season. : )
I need to try to look for this! So intriguing. I have been looking for yuzu too. The specialist Japanese store here isn’t that specialized. LOL. I’ll keep looking!
Oh Nami, you always make the simplest and tastiest dishes! I’m definitely going to be trying to win a bottle of this Shio Koji because I really need to make this karaage! Thank you for the recipe and the giveaway!
WOW! I learn something new every time I visit your blog! I totally need you to be my shopping buddy when I visit my local Asian market, Nami! This sounds delicious!
I order these at the Japanese restaurants all the time. This home made version looks easy to make and so so delicious.
When I go to a Japanese restaurant I always order karaage. This looks amazing. I love deep-fried chicken with all those spices although I suppose it’s not good for me to have it too often xx
Love this dish!! I would have the whole family gobbling these up. 🙂
Looks delicious! Love it!
I haven’t had karaage for such a long time! I love it and this one sounds particularly tempting with this mysterious seasoning.
Again, very curious about this product and the this chicken dish looks so inviting.
Oh yum! This chicken looks so good!
you are such the expert! I love reading your instructions and your knowledge on your cuisine. This chicken dish looks amazing!
We recently tried this at our favorite ramen place in Toronto! We loved it!
LOVE!!!
This looks soo Good Nami..
B/W Im making your teriyaki burger tonite,.. My kids love it!
Hope you are doing good and had a wonderful thanksgiving
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!
The condiment is new for me…This braised chicken looks lovely!
まだためしてないけれども日本人の友達は塩麹が大好きだそうです。本当に肉、魚、ご飯の味が高めるそうですね。なみさんの唐揚げはちょう美味しそうです！
This looks so good and I know my family would enjoy this. I would have to make a ton of this to fill them up but I wouldn’t mind!
Karaage is one of my favourite Japanese dishes to order when dining out and this one looks lovely!
This looks incredibly delicious!
Can I have a piece of that chicken? It looks amazing!
Now I know that I need to buy and experiment with Shio Koji, it sounds like a must ingredient.
You have a beautiful blog, love the photographs and the rich recipes.
Where’s the recipe?
Hi Joy! The recipe is over at Hikari Miso recipe (link in the post): http://www.hikarimiso.com/recipes/shiokoji/karaage/
Hope you enjoy!
I love this idea and have just fermented shio koji so will adopt you idea, thanks Nami 😀