Ahead of his event with us on 16th April, Tim Anderson shares a Japanese take on fried chicken. Read it and salivate…
No izakaya menu or Japanese cooking repertoire is complete without a solid kara-age recipe (pronounced kah-rah-ah-gay). I make mine in the Oita style, which is a little spicier and more garlicky than typical recipes. Kara-age uses only the thigh; people often ask me how I get my chicken so juicy – there’s no secret. Just use the thigh and the bird does the work for you!
Yield: 2–4 servings
Ingredients:
2 cloves garlic
½ shallot
5g fresh ginger
½ tbsp hot chilli powder
½ tsp white pepper
2 tbsp soy sauce
4 tbsp sake (or mirin)
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp yuzu juice
2 tsp rice vinegar
2 boneless chicken thighs
100g potato starch (or rice flour or cornflour)
vegetable oil, for deep-frying
¼ lime or lemon per serving
soy sauce or mayonnaise (optional)
Grate the garlic, shallot and ginger. Combine with the chilli powder, pepper, soy sauce, sake, sesame oil, yuzu juice and vinegar in a bowl. Lay the chicken thighs out flat and cut them into quarters. Place the chicken pieces in a bowl, pour the marinade over them and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or preferably overnight.
Heat the vegetable oil to 170°C in a large heavy saucepan. Drain the chicken pieces in a sieve, then dredge each piece in the potato starch, laying them out in a single layer on a plate after dredging. Let them sit for a little while, then dredge the pieces again, shaking off the excess starch – the double dredging is to make sure all the moisture on the surface of the chicken is absorbed and covered, resulting in a crisper, less greasy chicken.
Line a plate or tray with paper towel. Fry the chicken pieces in batches for about 5 minutes, or until deeply browned, then drain on the paper towel. Serve with a wedge of lime or lemon, and perhaps some soy sauce or mayonnaise.
Taken from Nanban: Japanese Soul Food by Tim Anderson
Get your tickets for an evening with Tim Anderson at Stanfords Long Acre on Thursday 16th April.