The uniqueness of Chicken Wingettes Karaage with Garlic Soy Dipping Sauce is that each piece of karaage is a tiny lollipop chicken made from a halved wingette. It is also unique that you eat this karaage chicken by dipping it in a garlicky soy-flavoured sauce, rather than marinating the chicken pieces to give a flavour to the fried chicken like Japanese Fried Chicken (Karaage Chicken).
I accidentally found Chicken Wingettes Karaage on a Japanese online shopping site. It was a bag of frozen karaage chicken with the bone in, but the Japanese name for this food caught my eye. It is called ‘Kōshien Hero Age’ (甲子園ヒーロー揚げ).
About Kōshien Hero Age
Kōshien (甲子園) is a place in Nishinomiya, a city of Hyōgo prefecture. It is known for the famous baseball stadium called the Hanshin Kōshien Stadium (阪神甲子園球場) located between Osaka and Kobe, where the National High School Baseball Championship is held every summer.
Prior to the championship, high school baseball teams in each prefecture go through a competition to decide the winning team within the prefecture. The team that becomes the winner represents its prefecture and participates in the national championship at Kōshien Stadium.
These prefecture representative students are heroes to the people of the prefecture. To the players representing the prefecture, it is a great honour to be able to play baseball at Kōshien.
There were many shops that sell Chicken Wingettes Karaage in Kōshien area. It is said that the word ‘hero’ originally came from the Chinese word for chicken ‘jī ròu’ (鸡肉), and the sound changed to ‘hero’ so that it can relate to the baseball hero. Isn’t it a wonderful story behind this dish?
Local Delicacy of Nishinomiya City
I haven’t had a real Kōshien Hero Age in Kōshien, but having read many articles about it, I got the idea that a karaage chicken piece is made from a halved wingette with a small part of the bone sticking out. So, I decided to mimic the Kōshien Hero Age.
It is basically a small version of Karaage Chicken Lollipops, which is a perfect nibble to have while watching a baseball game at Kōshien stadium.
In trying to stimulate the City of Nishinomiya, Kōshien Hero Age Promotion Committee was established and made this unique karaage chicken a local delicacy.
Each shop produces a unique flavour of Kōshien Hero Age.
Some of them do not seem to have a strong flavour on them, so that you can enjoy the chicken with different dipping sauces, like my dish today. others seem to have a strong flavouring without requiring a dipping sauce.
What’s in my Chicken Wingettes Karaage in Garlic Soy Dipping Sauce
Unlike my Karaage Chicken and Karaage Chicken Lollipops, I don’t marinate the chicken before deep-frying.
- Chicken wingettes
- Salt & pepper
- Flour
- Corn flour/cornstarch
- Oil to deep-fry
- Cabbage pieces for serving (optional, not in the photo).
Because the chicken pieces are not marinated in soy-based marinade, I mixed flour and corn flour/cornstarch to coat the chicken, instead of using only corn flour. This is because the flour gives a golden colour when deep-fried, while corn flour makes the chicken crunchy on the outside.
Dipping Sauce
- Grated garlic
- Chicken stock
- Soy sauce
- Mirin
- Sugar
It is important to grate the garlic very finely, instead of using a garlic crusher, otherwise the garlic bits stay at the bottom of the sauce instead of mixing into the sauce. I used a Kyocera ceramic grater for the ginger and garlic per the photo below. This is an excellent grater and much easier to use for garlic and ginger than the fine grater on the conventional box grater. Please visit my post Steamed Lotus Root Balls, which talks about the Kyocera grater.
How to Make Chicken Wingettes Karaage in Garlic Soy Dipping Sauce
There are 3 major steps in this recipe – make a dipping sauce, make small lollipops from wingettes, and make Chicken Karaage.
Dipping Sauce
- Put all the Dipping Sauce ingredients in a small saucepan and bring it to a boil.
- Let it boil for 5 seconds or so, then remove the pan from the heat.
Make Lollipops from Wingettes
- Make an incision at the drumette-end of the wingette and separate the two bones.
- From the incision, cut the flesh between the bones through to the other end.
- Find where two bones meet on the other end and cut the connecting tissue and cartilage to separate the bones.
- Remove the flesh, the skin, and the tendons attached to the tip-end of the halved wingette and expose about 1cm/⅜” of the bone.
Making Chicken Wingettes Karaage and Serving
- Dust the chicken pieces in flour and corn flour.
- Deep-fry the chicken pieces for about 3 minutes.
- Serve chicken with cabbage pieces if using, with a bowl of dipping sauce.
I added cabbage pieces on the side because they go very well with the dipping sauce.
Unlike normal Karaage Chicken, you dip the chicken in the sauce and eat it. The garlic-flavoured soy-based sauce with a hint of sweetness is so delicious.
Chicken Wingettes Karaage with Garlic Soy Dipping Sauce is not only a main dish but a great finger food. You can eat it in one bite. It’s so tasty that you cannot stop eating them!
Yumiko
Watch How To Make It
Each piece of Chicken Wingettes Karaage is made from halved wingettes. It is a tiny lollipop chicken, which is perfect as finger food. Unlike my Karaage Chicken and Karaage Chicken Lollipops, I don’t marinate the chicken pieces before deep-frying. You eat the chicken with a garlicky soy-flavoured dipping sauce. Watch the video.
Don't forget to see the section 'MEAL IDEAS' below the recipe card! It gives you a list of dishes that I have already posted and this recipe that can make up a complete meal. I hope it is of help to you.
- 10 chicken wingettes (note 1)
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 1½ tbsp corn flour/cornstarch
- 1½ tbsp flour
- Oil to deep-fry
- Cabbage cut into large bite-size pieces(optional)
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Put all the Dipping Sauce ingredients in a small saucepan, mix well.
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Bring it to a boil and cook for about 5 seconds, then remove from the heat.
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Transfer the sauce to a serving bowl.
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Take a wingette and start from the end that was attached to the drumette (note 3).
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Make an incision between the two bones and separate the bones.
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Starting from the incision, cut the wingette straight through between the two bones to the other end. You might have to find the gap between the two bones to separate the two halves.
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Remove the flesh and tendons around the wing tip end of the halved wingettes and expose about 1cm/⅜” of the bone.
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Repeat for the rest of the wingette. You should have 20 chicken pieces.
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Sprinkle salt and pepper over the chicken pieces.
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Mix flour and corn flour/corn starch and coat the chicken pieces thoroughly with the flour mixture.
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Put oil in a deep frying pan or a pot to 2cm/¾” deep and heat it to 180°C/356°F.
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Gently place the chicken pieces in the oil. You need to fry them in batches so that the oil is not overcrowded.
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Fry for 1½ minutes. Turn them over and cook further 1-1½ minutes (note 4).
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Transfer the chicken to a tray layered with a mesh tray, or a couple of sheets of kitchen paper.
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Place cabbage pieces on the side of the serving plate.
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Place Karaage chicken pieces leaning against the cabbage, pointing the bone end upwards.
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Serve with a bowl of dipping sauce.
1. My wingettes weighted 416g/0.9lb in total. I couldn’t find a shop that sells just the wingette portion of chicken, so I bought a pack of chicken nibbles at a supermarket. The pack contained 10 wingettes and 10 drumettes. I used the drumettes in other dishes, such as Simmered Winter Melon with Chicken Drumettes and Simmered Chicken Drumettes in Sweet and Sour Sauce.
2. I used a Japanese brand broth paste called ‘shantan‘ (シャンタン). You can also use the Lee Kum Kee brand powder that you can buy from supermarket.
3. One end of the wingette is connected to the wing tip and the other end is connected to the drumette. The drumette side of the wingette bones are thicker and you can see two bones clearly (see the video).
4. Depending on the size of the chicken piece, the cooking time varies slightly. When the chicken is cooked through, you will feel its light weight when you pick it up, compared to the uncooked chicken.
Meal Ideas
A typical Japanese meal consists of a main dish, a couple of side dishes, a soup and rice. I try to come up with a combination of dishes with a variety of flavours, colours, textures and make-ahead dishes.
Although Chicken Wingettes Karaage is perfect as a finger food, I picked it as a main dish in today’s Meal Ideas. But I kept the nibbly style throughout the meal set. With exception of miso soup, you can pretty much eat them with fingers.
Depending on the type of sushi rolls you pick, you may want to change Side dish 2. For example, if you are having California Rolls, you may not want to serve Wasabi Avocado Dip as the sushi contains avocado. Similarly if you are serving Spicy Tuna Rolls, you may want to avoid Anchovy and Tofu Dip.
- Main: Chicken Wingettes Karaage in Garlic Soy Sauce – today’s recipe.
- Side dish 1: 7-Eleven Miso Dip with Veggie Sticks – or Anchovy and Tofu Dip, Perilla and Tofu Dip, or Wasabi Avocado Dip.
- Side dish 2: Crunchy Lotus Roots Sautéed in Dashi Butter – make ahead.
- Soup: Tofu and Wakame Miso Soup – or any combination of ingredients.
- Rice: Sushi Rolls Recipe Series – you can make all 4 different rolls from the series (California Rolls, Tempura Prawn Rolls, Spicy Tuna Rolls, Salmon Avocado Rolls) , or pick one kind.
These sound delicious…. and very simple to make. Once the weather cools down a bit I will get back into deep frying. I love your website and your easy to follow recipes. Many thanks for your efforts in helping me improve my Japanese cooking skills.
Hi Christie, please do and let me know what you think.
These look so good and so worth the extra effort!! Love the meal ideas! Your recipes are always so inspiring!
Thanks, Lora!
These look great and perfect for a party or starter, thank you!
Hi Annie, I agree! It’s so smal, that you can eat it in one bite.
Sory. But waaaaay too much work for a few chicken wings. I can have delicious wing prepared in an air fryer in less than 15 minutes with almost zero effort.
Hi Brian, I respect your opinion, but I think some people don’t mind spending extra time on making dishes to present them in a different way and make them look interesting.