Karaage Chicken is one of the most popular Japanese dishes not only within Japan but abroad as well. The chicken is marinated with soy sauce, sake, ginger and mirin to give a touch of sweetness. Chicken pieces are deep fried twice to make them crunchy on the outside and juicy inside – a little known secret outside of Japan!
I originally posted this recipe in September 2016 but now I have added a recipe video and a new section, Meal Ideas with updated post contents!
Karaage Chicken is my children’s long standing no. 1 favourite dish within my repertoire. Whenever I suggest that I will cook a Japanese meal for them, Karaage Chicken is their first request.
Some people might be thinking that ‘karaage’ is Japanese fried chicken. But this is not correct. The word “karaage” (唐揚げ) is a generic word for deep fried food coated with or without flour. It does not have to be chicken.
So karaage chicken is called “tori no karaage” (鶏の唐揚げ, fried chicken) in Japanese, qualifying that it is chicken (tori, 鶏).
Karaage originally meant deep fried meat or fish without any marinating. If you marinate the meat/fish with some flavourings such as soy sauce before coating with flour, the dish becomes “tatsutaage” (竜田揚げ), which I will introduce to you another time with fish.
But these days, both methods are called karaage, and often it refers to fried chicken since chicken is the most popular karaage.
Marinating Chicken
My karaage chicken is marinated before frying. I used thigh fillets with skin on, but you can remove the skin if you wish. You can also use chicken breast, although the fried meat might not be as juicy as thigh fillets. The fillets are cut into large bite size pieces – about 5cm x 4cm / 2″ x 1½”.
Unlike American-style fried chicken, Japanese Fried Chicken is cut into large bite size pieces, about 5cm x 4cm (2″ x 1½”), so that you can eat them with chopsticks.
The marinade is just a mixture of soy sauce, sake, mirin and freshly grated ginger. The ginger eliminates the chicken smell from the karaage and gives a great refreshing flavour. Marinating time is only 30minutes to 1 hour.
Many karaage chicken recipes you find on the internet or cookbooks add garlic to the marinade. I don’t use garlic because that’s not how I remember the taste of authentic karaage in Japan and how I have been cooking it. Come to think of it, very traditional Japanese dishes rarely use garlic.
Secret to Crispy Karaage Chicken
I used cornflour/corn starch to coat the chicken pieces this time but I often use plain flour instead. You could also use equal parts corn flour and plain flour. I find that corn flour makes the coating lighter when deep fried.
A tip for making extra crispy karaage is to deep fry the chicken twice.
- Half cook the chicken pieces by deep frying them at lower temperature (about 160-165C/320-329F).
- Rest for 3-4 minutes.
- Deep fry the chicken pieces for the second time at about 190-200C/374-392F for 1-2 minutes.
Frying twice as above ensures that the outside of the karaage chicken is crunchy and golden brown while the inside is juicy.
Yumiko
Recipe Video Above. One of the most popular Japanese dishes, not only within japan but abroad, karaage chicken is pretty easy to make as long as you don't mind deep frying. Just marinate the chicken, toss in flour and deep fry. Simple as that. The key is double frying so that the chicken becomes crunchy outside and juicy inside.
Prep time does not include 30 min-1 hour to marinate chicken.
- 350g/12.3oz chicken thigh fillets , cut into large bite size pieces (Note 1)
- 20g/0.7oz corn flour (corn starch)
- Vegetable oil for deep frying
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sake
- 1/2 tsp mirin (Note 2)
- 2 tsp freshly grated ginger including juice
- Shredded lettuce or cabbage
- Parsley stem
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Pat chicken pieces dry with paper towel. Put the chicken and the Marinade ingredients into a zip lock bag or a bowl.
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Toss chicken inside the bag well ensuring that all pieces are coated with the marinade. Marinate for 30 min-1 hour.
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1. Heat enough oil in a deep pot or pan to 160C/320F (note 3). The depth of oils is about 3-4cm/1¼-1½”.
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Meanwhile, drain excess marinade from the chicken, place the chicken pieces on paper towels to remove excess liquid and put in a bowl. Sprinkle over the corn flour and turn chicken to coat every piece.
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Fry chicken in batches. Add several chicken pieces to the oil one by one and fry for about 2.5-3 minutes (note 4).
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Take the chicken pieces out of the oil and rest for at least 3-4 minutes (note 5) on paper towels. Repeat with remaining chicken pieces.
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Skim any flour crumbs from the oil if there are any and increase the temperature of the oil to 190-200C/374-392F (note 3).
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Put the chicken pieces back into the oil in batches and fry for 1-2minutes until golden brown and crunchy. Repeat with remaining chicken pieces.
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Serve immediately with shredded lettuce and parsley for decoration if using.
1. I cut chicken thigh into about 5 x 4cm/2 x 1.6". You can make it smaller or slightly larger. Then cooking time would need to be adjusted.
2. Sugar can be substituted for mirin. The sweetness of sugar vs mirin is 2:1 so use 1/4 teaspoon of sugar. Make sure you mix the marinade well to dissolve.
3. I don't normally use a thermometer to check the temperature of the oil. I dip a pair of chopsticks in the oil and check the approximate temperature. If tiny bubbles are quietly forming around the chopsticks, then it is about 160-165C/320-329F, if larger bubbles are quickly coming up, it is 180-190C/356-374F.
4. To maintain the temperature of the oil do not over crowd the oil with too many chicken pieces. I used a 20cm/8" pot and deep fried in 2 batches with no more than 5-6 chicken pieces at once.
5. While resting, the chicken continues to cook slowly resulting in tender juicy chicken.
6. If you are making a large amount of karaage chicken, hold the fried chicken in the oven. Before frying the chicken, turn the oven on to around 80-100C (176-212F). As you finish frying the chicken pieces for the second time, keep them on the tray in the oven while you fry others.
7. Nutrition information assumes that the vegetable oil absorbed into the fried chicken is about 8% of the weight of the chicken. Garnish is not included.
Originally published in September 2016. The video added and contents updated to focus on cooking. The new section Meal Ideas is also added.
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.
The oily main dish should always be matched with some vegetables that can assist digestion. The daikon (white radish) in the salad is perfect for this. Hijiki Seaweed Salad adds a different flavour to the meal.
- Main: Japanese Fried Chicken (Karaage Chicken) – today’s recipe
- Side dish 1: Persimmon Daikon Salad – if persimmon is not in season, try Daikon Salad with Pickled Plum Dressing.
- Side dish 2: Hijiki Seaweed Salad – make ahead, alternative can be Scrambled Tofu (Iri Tofu) if you cannot buy hijiki seaweed
- Soup: Miso Soup of your choice from Miso Soup Ingredient Combinations – I would go with potato, wakame seaweed and shallots/scallions.
- Rice: Cooked Rice
I just made your Karaage Chicken. I only marinated the chicken with soy sauce and sugar as I did not have the other items. It tasted amazing and my sons loved it. I will make again with all ingredients. Thank you!
– Karaage is served with a Spicy Mayo here in San Diego, California. Served on top of Sushi too. I need a receipe for it. Is it an original sauce served in Japan?
Hi Lilly, I’m glad you liked it! Adding mayo to Karaage is a new trend (Westernised). Young people seem to like it but Karrage without mayo is still the most popular way of eating it in Japan. When adding mayonnaise, often they simply squeeze out Kewpie mayonnaise. As for spicy mayo, I am not sure what’s in it as there are many variations to it. The spiciness must be coming from either chilli, chilli bean paste, tabasco, wasabi or mustard. Sometimes, ketchup is added to make is orange.
What is sake? How do you make or where do you buy it? Thanks.
Hi Giorjana, sake is Japanese rice wine and alcoholic. There are drinking rice wine and cooking rice wine. Drinking rice wine can be used in cooking, too. The cooking rice wine usually contains a bit of salt but these days you can buy cooking rice wince with no salt in it as well.
cooking rice wine comes in a bottle (plastic or glass, small or large) and you can buy it at supermarkets and Asian grocery stores. Drinking sake can be purchased at bottle shops if they stock Japanese sake but they are much more expensive that cooking sake.
Please do not substitute sake with Chinese rice wine as it is quite different in flavour and aroma. Chinese rice wine usually does not suit to Japanese cooking unless the dish is Chinese style.
Hi Yumiko. Can this chicken be done in an airfryer?
Hi Linda, I don’t have an air fryer but I read several articles and it looks like you can use air fryer to fry Karate Chicken. Let me know how it goes.
what do you do with the cooking oil after … discard? or re-use? for how many times if ever…thanks.
Hi Jun, you can re-use the oil few to several times as long as you store it after filtering the oil, removing crumbs etc. Number of times depends on how cleanly you filtered, the ingredients you fried and the temperature the oil was heated in the past. The more filter, less smelly food (eg vegetables vs fish) and lower temperature, the more times you can re-use.
I have an oil container to store with a mesh strainer at the top (bought it a Japanese grocery store) but you can use a very fine stainer and a container to filter. It is even better if you lay a oil filter paper (kitchen supply shops, Daiso sell them) or kitchen paper on the strainer.
When re-using it add some fresh oil to improve the oil quality.
When the oil had its life, you will know it as the oil becomes a bit thick when poured and lots of tiny bubbles surfaces while heating up. I also discard oil after frying fish as the oil becomes fishy.
Can you marinate overnight?
Hi Ann, it can be marinated overnight but no more than 6-8 hours. When marinated too long, eg 24 hours, the meat absorbs too much of marinade that make the meat too salty and its texture harder. You may also reduce the amount of marinade slightly when leaving it overnight for the same reason.
Hi. Is there an alternative to sake as this has alcohol which I cannot use.
Thanks
Hi Salma, would you like to read my reply to the comment from David dated 9 September? He asked the same question for a different reason but my answer covers your question in the latter half of my reply.
I have the same restrictions andI have used rice vinegar with decent results as a replacement in a few recipes. I have tried one similar to this and it was very good with that swap. I just wish I could learn to fry properly to get that nice, crispy coating.
Hi Nagi, could you please give me the brand you use for Chinese cooking wine and dry sherry. I live in small town and cannot find. Thanks, Love, Love, your blog and recipes!!!!
Hi Kathy, I am Yumiko, the owner of RecipeTin Japan. I forwarded this question to Nagi.
Love the video and all your suggestions…I’ll report back after I make. Curious about coatings…cornstarch versus flour? Someone used rice flour with success…What is the most authentic coating???
Hi Lyn, thank you!
In Japan, rice flour is sometimes used at Japanese restaurants because it makes the karaage light and crunchy. But at home, rice flour is not a staple ingredient. Flour or cornstarch are the traditional coating used for karaage.
Hi Yumiko, the recipe I’ve always used is almost the same as yours but uses potato starch in place of corn flour. The cruchiness and flavour are superb, a bit like chicken and chips 😎
Hi Jaypatto, when I was in Japan, I used potato starch which was more commonly available than corn starch. I liked it as it makes Karaage crispier and need less amount to thicken liquid.
It is now more available in Australia, usually in the gluten free section of the supermarket. Fantastic as a coating on calamari too! Thanks for your wonderful recipes.
Hi Yumiko!
In America, you need to be 21 yrs old to but alcoholic beverages. I’m currently a high schooler and live away from my parents. Is there a way to substitute sake with something?
Hi David, that’s really strict! In Australia, legal drinking age is 18 and in Japan, it’s 20. The first question I’d ask is whether or not it is illegal to buy a bottle of ‘cooking sake’ which is called ‘ryōrishu’ (料理酒) in Japanese. It contains a bit of salt in it and is not considered to be drinking alcohol in Australia and Japan, i.e. can sell without a license and children can buy it. I often use cooking sake when sake is needed. But you need to be aware of the amount of salt for the dish you are cooking as cooking sake already contains a bit of salt.
Failing the above, the only other options are:
1. If quantity is small (like this recipe) omit or replace with water (if consistency is an issue)
2. If the recipe includes sake and sugar, replace with mirin which is similar to combination of sake and sugar). The sweetness of mirin is about 1/3 of sugar, i.e. if using 5g sugar, you will need 15g mirin to get the same sweetness.
3. If sake is the key ingredient of the dish, e.g. sakamushi (steaming food with plenty of sake), then I am afraid you’d have to ask adult friend to get a bottle for you.
I hope you can buy cooking sake.
Hi Yumiko !
Thank you for the recipe and the wonderful back story about the chicken and sweet story about Nagi.
FYI Nagi is a wonderful recipe writer and I have cooked many of her recipes successfully and so I will try your recipe also👍
Hi Gillian, thanks for your kind words. I am going to re-post this recipe with a video and Meal Idea. In doing so, I am planning to cut back my personal matters such as Nagi’s “Karaji” story. Now you are making me re-think my plan…
Could you please include the nutritional content of your recipes. It is helpful in choosing which suits a person’s needs. I especially like the calorie content.
Hi Shaon, I am sorry that I don’t have nutrition information. I attempted to add it but almost every dish I made had a difficulty in obtaining the figures due to rather authentic ingredients. But where I can, I shall try to update the recipe with the nutrition information.
Hi Shaon, just added!
Hi, this sounds great!!! My seven year old son is currently obsessed with all things Japanese. We are having a Japanese eighth birthday party next weekend so this will definitely go on the menu. Along with a cake that looks like sushi!
Hi Cat, fried chicken would be a great choice for the birthday party! I am curious about what sort of sushi cake you are going to make.
Made it loved it and I’m doing it again, I used rice flour and the result was fantastic. Thanks.
Hi Isilda, great! Thank you.
Can you please make a VIDEO on this
Hi Ateya, thanks for the interest! I am working on it. Will update the post as soon as it is ready.
Hi Yumiko! Thank you for this recipe! I love karaage! When you say “corn flour” do you mean corn starch? I think we call it corn starch in the U.S so just making sure I use the right ingredient.
Yes, corn flour is the same as corn starch. I should add a note. Thanks for asking!
Hello,
I’m a little confused by the recipe. It says to use ½ tsp mirin (Note 2), but note 2 says that sugar can be substituted for mirin and that sweetness of sugar vs mirin is 2:1 so use ½ tsp of sugar.
If the sweetness of sugar is 2:1, then shouldn’t it be 1/4 tsp of sugar? Or should the original amount of mirin be 1 tsp.
Hi, you are right. the quantity in Note is a mistake. It should be 1/4 tsp. I will update it straight away. Thanks for letting me know.
I am so excited to try this! I have been looking for some bento ideas, but I am super picky and don’t care for fish, so it’s awesome to find a chicken recipe that sounds simple but great! I am going to try this and the shimeji gohan for a bento! Thanks!
Karaage chicken and shimeji gohan would be a perfect combination fora bento box! Chicken is yummy even if not hot.
Yumiko, love to make this recipe, unfortunately I don’t have cooking sake. Can I subsitute with Chinese cooking wine? Thanks
Hi Helen, Chinese cooking wine has quite different flavour but given that it is mixed with equal portion of soy sauce and also ginger is in it, I think you can get away with it.
Hello,i can see that you are a really great blogger,
Thanks.
It’s in point of fact a nice and helpful piece of information. I’m glad that you shared this helpful info with us. Please stay us informed like this. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you!
My mom made this all the time when I was a child, and now it’s my daughter’s favorite as well! Except I always called it “chicken a la oishi!”
That’s a great name! So funny to call it like that but it shows how much your family loves karaage chicken. 🙂
Yumiko-san, this dish is perfectly crispy and I bet is is so tender and juicy with light notes of the ginger inside. Looking forward to keeping in touch as I miss so many of these traditional home recipes from when we lived in Yokohama and of course we all love Nagi. Ja Mata!
Konnichiwa. Thanks for dropping a note. I used to live in the town called Kounandai which is not far from Yokohama. That was until we migrated to Australia and Nagi was born there. I hope you enjoy my recipes.
This looks great and it seems quite simple. I’ll try to make this tomorrow on getting a few the ingredients I don’t normally have on hand.
Again love the insight fullness of your new blog with the background education of the dishes and more. This really helps to understand the dishes, ingredients, being inspired to make them and absorbing a bit of the food culture in awareness.
Hi Urban, thank you very much. And please do make it and let me know how it went.
Made these on the weekend. It was allot simpler to make than I thought. Was harder to get the temperature just right even with a thermometer. I had some extra Chinese chopsticks from some takeout that worked with your bubbles method. In the end enjoyed the chicken. I would definitely use bigger pieces next time, like soon in making it again as mine was smaller and fried rapidly. But I enjoyed it and at least I know how to make the chicken which is quite easy to make.
Hi Urban. I’m glad you enjoyed karaage chicken! Oil temperature is always a challenge as you add meat to it, the temperature drops and if you left the stove dial unchanged, the temperature gradually clime up. But you shouldn’t be too nervous about slight differences in temperature. The most important thing to avoid is not to make the temperature of the oil in the first frying too high, otherwise it gets brown before the meat is cooked enough.
Konnichiwa Yumiko-san! This chicken looks delicious! Your posts are so insightful and informative!! I like the idea of using cornflour instead of flour or a heavy batter. Traditional Southern fried chicken here in the US has a heavy coating which is often tasty, but just too heavy for me. I love light tempura batter, I use it for fresh asparagus and other vegetables. It is difficult to find boneless chicken with the skin on, but I do know how to remove the bones. 🙂 I like the double fried technique, that is the way good french fries are made!
Once again, arigato gozaimasu
Hi Dorothy-san. Doitashimashite (you are welcome).
Karaage is really yummy. That’s why it has been one of the most popular dishes in Japan. I cannot buy chicken thigh without bones either. I did not write about it but I actually bought thigh cutlets which came with skin and bonse, then de-bone them.
Thank you Yumiko! Your recipes are amazing and I love the way you explain everything. I look forward to Nagi’s and your posts every day
Hi Jan, thank you! I am writing the post as if I am telling my kids, particularly Nagi, about the recipe. Nagi is such a typical Aussie and she needs lots of explanations when it comes to Japanese dishes. And I really enjoy writing it. So it’s good for me, too!
ありがとうございます、由美子さん
I am enjoying your blog and recipes. My family is looking forard to my making this recipe. It is wonderful being able to have recipes that are typical homemade Japanese family meals.
Alexisさん、どういたしまして。
I am glad that you like my site. Let me know what you think of the dish when you made it.
I would love to try your recipes, but I use ounces, pounds .
Thanks for letting me know. I am still getting used to it. As you can see, I half managed to add US measuring unit! I just updated the recipe.
YESSSSS!!! I’ve been WAITING for this recipe mum! Thanks so much for this. I have chicken thighs in the fridge right now….I might have to make today a cheat day!!!
Wait until himeji gohan comes out next week and make a complete meal for the day. I know you have never made a complete meal like this as you always relied on me! About time to become independent…
Thank you for your thoughtful explanations as well as the delicious recipes. I share them with my daughter who is now studying Japanese at university but started in grade 6 and loves all things Japanese. Looking forward to your recipe for shimeji gohan next week!
Thanks for passing my blog to your daughter. Cooking is another aspects of learning Japanese!
Your chicken sounds amazing! Mamma’s chicken always the best no matter how good the daughter’s fried chicken is. I enjoy your recipes and look forward to next weeks.
Karaage chicken is really yummy. There are many different flavouring of karaage chicken and many of them use garlic in marinade. And I think that is the big difference between those and my version.