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Indulge in Japanese crispy fried chicken called Chicken Karaage with its dipping sauce! The combination of juicy meat and the crispy texture will make you want more!

Chicken Karaage is my favorite Japanese dish. The first time I ate it was in the most authentic Japanese restaurant in my town. The chef is originally from Japan. So, I really trusted the restaurant for the most authentic Japanese Chicken Karaage in front of me.

The meat is so tender and juicy, while the outside texture is crispy. The flavor is a beautiful balance between saltiness and sweetness. Moreover, the dipping sauce completes the wonderful experience.

What is Chicken Karaage?

Chicken karaage does not literally mean fried chicken. Karaage (から揚げ) means frying without batter. This is where it differs from Tempura.

Karaage uses a different batter, it is thicker actually than the batter used for Tempura. Tempura batter is thin and light, while Karaage batter is thick and dense.

The chicken meat is marinated for at least 30 minutes. The batter is mixed with flour. After marinating, you can coat it with another layer of tapioca starch before frying. But this is optional.

Ingredients Overview

Chicken

The parts of chicken that is best used for Karaage is the chicken thigh fillet. It is best if there is still skin attached unless you don’t like the skin just use chicken thigh fillet without skin.

I would highly recommend chicken thigh instead of chicken breast. The result has to be tender and juicy. Chicken breast cannot be that tender and juicy. It will be just perfect if you use chicken thigh with skin. Besides, chicken breast is too dry to make chicken karaage.

Flour

The flour used to make the batter is cake flour or all-purpose flour. I use cake flour. If you don’t have the cake flour, you can choose all-purpose flour as substitute.

Potato Starch

Potato starch gives a light and crispy texture.

Both flour and potato starch are mixed into the batter. Before frying, if you really love crunchy texture, you can add another layer of potato starch on the marinated chicken before dipping it into the hot oil.

Sake

Sake will help soften the chicken, gives freshness and subtle sweetness to the meat. Alternatively, you can use white wine if you don’t have sake in your kitchen. If you don’t want to use any alcohol at all, you can omit it.

Mirin

Mirin also adds tenderness and subtle sweetness to the chicken meat. Mirin contains alcohol, so if you are not allowed to consume alcohol in your food, you can eliminate that.

Rice wine vinegar is alternate non-alcohol option for mirin.

Sesame Oil

Sesame oil helps add a bit of sesame flavor in the chicken. This can be eliminated if you don’t like sesame oil.

Soy Sauce

Use dark soy sauce you normally use for cooking. Or you can also check out Japanese soy sauce.

Grated Ginger

Ginger is a must. It gives the chicken karaage an authentic Japanese flavor. It makes the karaage different from other fried chicken.

In this recipe, I suggest 2 tsp ginger paste or grated ginger. You can add more if you like.

Grated Garlic

Garlic is an important ingredient in Chicken Karaage. In this recipe, I use 6 garlic. If you like garlic flavor, you can add more.

Frying Oil

You can use oil with high smoke point like vegetable oil, canola or peanut oil. I myself use coconut oil for frying. I find that the result is better. It is drier and crispier.

Marinating

It is best to marinate the chicken for at least 30 minutes. Put the marinated chicken in the chiller, while you are making the dipping sauce.

Frying Temperature

First heat the oil for deep-frying to 160°C.
Fry the chicken until light brown.
Take them out of the oil and drain for 2-3 minutes.
Heat up the oil again to 180°C.
Quick fry the chicken again for 40 seconds or until golden brown.

Dipping Sauce

There are 2 options for dipping sauce. One is with mayonnaise. You can use store-bought mayonnaise. Basically, it is the simplest one.

Or you can mix your own dipping sauce. This is the authentic version. You will find this kind of dipping sauce in most authentic Japanese restaurant indeed.

Mixing the dipping sauce is easy. Just combine all ingredients together and stir them well.

Serving Chicken Karaage

Serve freshly-fried chicken karaage with lemon wedges and the dipping sauce. Squeeze the lemon on top of the karaage and dip it into the dipping sauce.

Chicken Karaage is usually served with a bowl of steamed rice or ramen noodle in Japanese restaurant.

Chicken Karaage Recipe

Marinade Sauce:

4 pcs chicken thigh
6 tbsp sake
1 tsp mirin
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp ginger paste
6 pcs garlic
6 tbsp cake flour
6 tsp potato starch
1 tsp salt

Dipping Sauce:

2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce (optional)
2 tbsp mirin
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp salt

Lemon wedges 1-2 pcs

Step By Step

Grind the garlic and ginger. If you watch the video, you can see that I covered the grater with aluminum foil. This way, it is easier to collect the garlic and ginger paste. Also, it is easier to clean the grater.
Cut the chicken thigh in 4-6 pcs. Set aside.
Afterwards, prepare the sauce to marinate. In a bowl, put in the soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger paste, salt, sake, and mirin. Put in the garlic and ginger paste. Mix well.
Pour the sauce into the chicken pieces. Add flour and tapioca starch. Stir well and make sure all the chicken pieces are coated with the sauce.
Cover with cling wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes at least.
Let’s prepare the dipping sauce. Put in soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, Worchester sauce, mirin, sesame oil, and salt together in a bowl. Stir well. Set aside.
Heat oil for deep-frying. Fry the chicken pieces until the color turns light brown. Take them out. Let the oil drip for a while.
After that, put them back into the hot oil, this time 180°C. Fry for 1-2 minutes until golden brown.
Drain with paper towel.
Serve with lemon wedges and dipping sauce.
Enjoy!