Kara Age — Gingery Fried Chicken

Joe loves this dish, and on occasion he convinces me to cook it. I like it too, but it's rather labor intensive and messy. So it's a special dinner when it's Kara Age night. This time I served it with goma ae (spinach with a roasted sesame sauce) and edaname (boiled soybeans — think of them as cooked peanuts) and rice. When I make it, I get a really nice delicate coating. I actually like it better without lemon, which tends to mask the subtle flavor of the coating.

Kara Age

1 lb or so of boneless, skinless chicken, cut into 1 inch pieces

Marinade
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sake
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 clove garlic, smashed

For Dredging
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sansho (I didn't have sansho, so I used white pepper)

Vegetable oil for deep frying

1 lemon, cut into wedges

Combine marinade ingredients and marinate chicken in a shallow boil for an hour at room temp. (Or up to eight hours refrigerated.) Stir occasionally.

Combine dredging ingredients. While you're bringing enough vegetable oil for deep frying to 350 F in a wok (or other suitable frying pan), lift each piece of chicken from the marinade and dredge. Shake off excess flour and set aside. By the time you're done, the first pieces should have turned light brown as the coating absobes the marinade.

Fry chicken in batches of 3 to 4 pices for less than a minute at about 350 F. Lift out and drain on paper towel.

Lower oil temp to 325 F, and fry chicken pieces a second time in batches of 6 to 7. Drain on paper towel. Serve with lemon wedges.

Without a thermometer, I find I usually let it get way too cool then way too hot. but here's a tip for deep frying without a thermometer. At 350 F, a pinch of dredging flour will sizzle immediately on the surface of the oil without burning. At 325 F, a pinch of dredging flour will sink slightly before sizzling. I often start a bit high because the first batch of chicken will make the oil temp drop rapidly.

Comments

[How to Make Sushi]

Ahhh this looks great. I'll try this the next time I have a hankering for Japanese food :)

[Agha Ata (USA)]

Hi,

Your second merinade ingedient is:

1/4 cu0=p sake

What is it?

Thank you.

Agha

[Joe, Kitchen Chick's husband]

Whoops!

That is 1/4 (or .25) cup of sake, which is Japanese rice wine. We'll fix the typo.