I love fried chicken of all kinds, but of all the fried chicken in the world, Karaage is my absolute favorite. Its exquisite balance of taste, texture, and aroma is unbeatable, and like pizza, it’s even good served cold in a bento box lunch.
What is Karaage
Karaage (pronounced ka-ra-ah-geh), is a deep fried dish where a protein or vegetable is coated in potato starch and deep fried until crisp. Chicken is the most common protein, but it’s also made with seafood such as blowfish. These days, Karaage is almost always seasoned, but this wasn’t always the case.
Karaage (から揚げ) vs. Tatsutaage (竜田揚げ)
Historically, the term Karaage referred to any ingredient that was coated with flour or starch and then deep fried without being seasoned.
To the east of Osaka, there is a river called Tastutagawa, which is famed for the beautiful autumn foliage that surrounds it. When chicken is marinated in soy sauce before being coated in starch and fried, it turns the color of autumn leaves which is how Tastutaage is said to have gotten its name. By this definition, what most of us know as Karaage is technically Tastutaage.
That being said, in modern parlance, the two names are used interchangeably, and while there may be some regional preferences, “Karaage” is the more commonly used of the two.
Ingredients for Karaage
Chicken
Although Karaage can be made with almost any kind of meat or fish, it’s most commonly made with chicken. Specifically, you want to use skin-on boneless chicken thighs. There are two reasons why thigh meat will always taste better than breast meat. The first is that the type of muscle tissue in the legs of chickens is fundamentally different than breast meat. They are built for endurance and contain a higher concentration of myoglobin which gives leg meat its characteristic dark color and umami-rich taste.
The second is that leg meat is fueled by fat (vs. glycogen for breast meat), which why thigh meat typically has a higher fat content than breast meat. We’ve all heard the saying that “fat=flavor,” but it’s not just flavor that the fat imparts. As meat cooks, the muscle fibers contract and expel water, but since fat takes longer to render out, the leg meat ends up juicier and harder to dry out.
I also like to use skin-on thighs for Karaage because the skin helps insulate the meat (at least on one side) from the high temperature of the oil. When it’s done frying most of the oil should be rendered out of the skin making it nice and crisp, while the underlying meat is tender and juicy.
The last thing to consider with chicken for Karaage is to use the best quality chicken you can find. This means using fresh chicken that has not been previously frozen, and ideally a heritage breed that’s been raised cage-free. Ice crystals that form during freezing rupture cell walls, which can not only make meat spongy, it also allows the liquids to drain out faster as the meat cooks. Most supermarket chickens are “broilers” that have been bred for a number of commercially favorable reasons (like reaching maturity more quickly), none of which include things like better texture or flavor. This is why classic heritage breeds tend to taste better (but also cost more). Free-range birds also tend to taste better, because they get more exercise. They also eat a more varied diet, as they’re snacking on natural foods in their environment other than commercial chicken feed.
Seasonings
There are so many ways in which Karaage can be seasoned, but to this day, the best Karaage I’ve ever had was simply seasoned with soy sauce, sake, and ginger. This is why my marinade is so basic. The soy sauce brings the salt and umami, while the sake imparts a mild sweetness and a synergistic boost of umami. The ginger smooths over any gaminess in the thigh meat while enzymes like Zingibain help tenderize the chicken.
Some people like to add garlic to their marinade, but I find this overpowers the flavor of the chicken which is why I don’t add it to mine. I also don’t recommend adding anything overtly sweet such as fruit juices, mirin, or sugar to the marinade as it will burn and make your chicken dark and bitter.
For variations, you can marinate the chicken for Karaage using a salt brine, curry powder, or chili powder, and I’ve even swapped out the soy sauce for fish sauce from time to time.
Coating
Karaage can be coated with almost any flour or starch, but my personal favorite is potato starch. It results in a light, crisp shell that’s similar to potato chips in texture. Cornstarch and wheat flour both result in a heavier crust with the former producing a texture similar to tortilla chips, and the later producing a shell that’s more like buttermilk fried chicken. In the US potato starch is produced by Bob’s Red Mill and should be available in most upscale supermarkets.
As a side note, I prefer using potato starch (over cornstarch) in almost every application, whether I’m thickening a sauce, coating a food, or adding it in to bind ingredients together, so if you don’t have it in your pantry I highly recommend ditching the cornstarch and picking up some potato starch.
To Double Fry or Not to Double Fry
Double frying is a process in which you fry a food once, remove it from the oil and then fry it again. This creates a crust with a crunch/crispness that tends to last a bit longer, and I recommend double frying most types of fried chicken, including my Tebasaki. The problem is that the longer overall cooking time tends to overcook the meat. This is fine for wings, where it’s really about enjoying the crisp skin, but for Karaage it’s about the juicy, flavorful leg meat, which is why I don’t double fry this.
How to make Karaage
Making Karaage is a simple three-step process. First, you need to marinade the chicken. How long you marinate the chicken will affect how salty the chicken is, so you can adjust the marination time to suit your preferences. Generally, I tend to marinate the chicken longer if I’m going to serve it with rice (such as in an onigiri), or I’m planning to pack it into a bento box, and I’ll marinate it for less time if it’s going to be a stand-alone dish.
Next, the chicken gets dredged in potato starch, this is also a matter of preference, and you can go for a very light coating for a thin crisp shell or a thicker coating to make it crunchier.
The final step is to fry the Karaage, and this is a step that requires a bit of finesse. For me, the perfect Karaage is potato chip crisp on the outside, and juicy enough on the inside to flood your mouth with a savory “soup” of chicken juices. Since chicken needs to be cooked to 165 degrees F to be safe to eat, I like to cook it to an internal temperature of 160 degrees F and let carryover cooking bring the temperature up to 165 F as it rests. A few degrees off and the chicken will either be unsafe to eat, or it’s going to be less juicy than it could be. To further add to the challenge, deboned leg meat varies in thickness, so although you want to do your best to cut the pieces roughly the same size, the reality is that some pieces are going to cook faster than others.
Experienced fryers in Japan can consistently judge the internal temperature of the chicken by the size of the bubbles forming in the oil around the meat, but this is a skill that takes time and practice to learn. In the meantime, I recommend keeping an instant-read thermometer handy and checking each piece of chicken until you start to feel more comfortable about judging when the chicken is cooked. In my kitchen, I use a Thermoworks Thermapen which are fast, accurate and easy to use.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon sake
- 25 grams fresh ginger (grated)
- 900 grams skin-on boneless chicken thighs (cut into bite-size pieces)
- 170 grams potato starch
- vegetable oil (for frying)
- 1/2 lemon (sliced into wedges for serving)
Steps
- Whisk the soy sauce, sake and ginger together in a bowl to combine.
- Add the chicken and mix well to ensure each piece of chicken is coated with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate, allowing the chicken to marinate for at least 1 hour or up to 4 hours.
- When you are ready to fry the karaage, add 1 inch of vegetable oil in a heavy bottomed pot and heat until the oil reaches 340 degrees F (170 C). Prepare a paper towel-lined rack.
- While you wait for the oil to come up to temperature, dredge the marinated chicken in potato starch to coat each piece evenly and set the pieces of coated chicken on a tray.
- When the oil ready, fry the coated chicken in batches. Don't overcrowd the pot, and I recommend batching pieces of chicken that are roughly the same size.
- When the karaage hits an internal temperature of 160 degrees F (71 C), transfer them to the prepared rack and let them rest for a few minutes before serving them.
I would happily join you for your last meal on Earth if this is going to be a part of it:)
as usual something i really really want to eat NOW
Can’t wait to try this. Must it absolutely have to be skinless chix?
Nope, it can be made with skin on chicken as well. In fact, you could probably just use a whole thigh, but that would take longer to fry.
You were right when you said meat porn. This is looking good. Yours looks better than what we’ve both had at restaurants before.
this is one our favorites…we’ll have to try this! like the idea of skinless…though the crispy skin on is too tempting!
How funny…once I left my parents house (Texas) I thought I would never want to see another piece of fried chicken again (mom’s favorite, and had it every week), but of course my room-mate in college loved going out late and night and it was her choice, as she was from Indiana and had not ever had it before.
Now I too have come to like it again, and would squeeze that lemon all over it! Citrus seems to be a favorite of mine…
I love the marinade here, these fried chicken must be so flavorful! I would love to try this recipe soon!
Karaage chicken is a favorite in Hawaii, often served on Hawaiian plate lunches. I also like Korean fried chicken.
A must order at Jap restaurants! Love this!
Hi, I’m sure you meant no harm, but the term “Jap” is derogatory and was used in a negative way during Wll. Just don’t want you eating at a nice family restaurant and offending someone’s grandparent’s! Old post, old war… I know but still relevant.
My Japanese-American hubby will scream when he sees this. Karaage chicken is one of his fave foods. We always order it at a Japanese restaurant. Yours looks like deep-fried perfection!
asian people love the cornstarch! love fried chicken…
my Thomas Keller ones or this lovely karraage. isn’t frying so much easier in cubes? quick n easy and perfect. no bones to through off your whole frying qi.
Hah, well if you want to get all technical, it should be written “kara-age”(it’s two separate words), unfortunately it seems that most people searching on Google type in “karaage” which is why I chose to spell it like that.
One of favs by far, I didn’t know the marinade was so simple ? I’ve gone through the hassles and complexity of making a Thomas Keller fried chicken before, but I might as well just make the karaage.
One of favs by far, I didn’t know the marinade was so simple ? I’ve gone through the hassles and complexity of making a Thomas Keller fried chicken before, but I might as well just make the karaage.’, ‘0
This takes me back to college days!!
Mochiko chicken or corn flake drummettes have to be my all time favorite, though!
Wow you’re posting like crazy lately. You make me feel so lazy 🙂 I’ll also *shamefully* confess that I have never fried chicken nor eaten fried chicken, as far as I can remember. I’ve done lots of things to chicken (no, not that kind of meat porn, thanks a lot), but I never fried it. And Zenchef never let me go to a Popeye’s. It must be a French thing.
we used to order this all the time in Japanese restaurants until mum stopped us for health reasons! she pretty much banned fried foods at the dinner table. But now i’ve got your recipe. woohoo!
we used to order this all the time in Japanese restaurants until mum stopped us for health reasons! she pretty much banned fried foods at the dinner table. But now i’ve got your recipe. woohoo!’, ‘0
another one of my fave Japanese food. Your plate looks delicious!
Yum! I like kara-age. I’ll be having this in Japan in a few months…
Marc, my favorite fried chicken is my grandmother’s fried chicken (she’s from India, so she gives it a bit of Indian flare), but I think this will be my new favorite! Don’t tell my grandma that, though! 😛
Marc, my favorite fried chicken is my grandmother’s fried chicken (she’s from India, so she gives it a bit of Indian flare), but I think this will be my new favorite! Don’t tell my grandma that, though! :P’, ‘0
Japanese beinng masters of the tempura style, I find all this very interesting and am keeping the recipe in my “to make” folder!
I’m very anxious to try that… thanks for sharing.
Filipino fried chicken can be quite awesome 😉 In fact, I don’t think there’s a fried chicken I don’t like! (it’s a miracle I’m not obese.) Hmm, I think I may be overdue for a karaage-don…
I loooooove this Mark. I have a recipe of this on RM too. I love it that this is so simple to make yet so flavorful that you think there are more secret ingredients in the recipe, but no in reality. Do you like Taiwanese salt and pepper chicken. It’s similar but more peppery and 5-spice taste, and served with fried basil leaves. Going to make it soon.
Sorry, spelled your name wrong, Marc. 😉
In Korea this is called “Tang Soo Yook” and it’s accompanied with a sweet/sour sauce and veggies!
In Korea this is called “Tang Soo Yook” and it’s accompanied with a sweet/sour sauce and veggies!’, ‘0
Apart from teriyaki chicken, this is also my other favourite chicken-dish Japanese style. I am just dumbfounded that there is no special ingredients to make the fried parts crispy – just plain cornstarch. Now I got to go back to my cooking book.
I just finished making karaage for my family tonight, and it was amazing. We used spicy korean bbq sauce, teriyaki, and a homemade honey smoke sauce I made for dipping sauces. I covered the leftovers with the different sauces and baked for 5 minutes. I’m sure they’ll taste great tomorrow!
Thanks for the great recipe!
Just my 2 cents. I’ve tried ALL batters for this dish. Potato starch is the key!! The chicken comes of the fryer not too stiff and not overwhelmed with batter ( that cornstarch tends to do).
Just my 2 cents. I’ve tried ALL batters for this dish. Potato starch is the key!! The chicken comes of the fryer not too stiff and not overwhelmed with batter ( that cornstarch tends to do).’, ‘0
use some kewpie mayonaise with it…..OMG people
Marc. What mixture is better? Ginger OR Garlic, OR both? Besides, what was it you squeezed out of a tube on your kara age before you ate it? Thank you. I have always been a very bad cook, and hope this time my family memebers will eat what i cook.
Marc. Could you recommend one more JAPANESE MEAT dish, like Kara age? Simple. easy, using any meat with any vegetable? Thank you?
Is there a sub for cornstarch? because I have cornflour and the taste isnt the same.
You could use regular all-purpose flour, but the texture of the crust will
be more like American fried chicken.
Thank u thank u very much for this oh so easy delicious recipe! It beats the one in my japanese methodist church cookbook. Its hard to believe how tasty it is with such simple ingredients. My family ate it all. I used both tenders and thighs with great results. Crunchy on the outside, tender and moist inside. I only had 10-15 min to marinade. I also added a bit of lemon juice. The kids used ranch (I know sacrilege!) and tonkatsu sauce for dipping. Soo grateful for this quick oishi dish! Keep up the good work!
What kind of vegetable sides do u serve with this? Thanks
It’s not really like American fried chicken in that it’s not really a “meal”. It’s often had as-is with beer, or is packed in a lunch box with rice. You could turn it into a meal I guess by serving it with a salad or some other vegetable you like.
Love your blog but I have to disagree with the use of cornstarch for karage. Use potato starch, katakuriko, instead. It available in most grocery stores in NY; it works much better and is far more commonly used for karage in Japan. The main difference is that it locks in the marinade without getting sticky or too clumpy as corn starch can do once it is fried. It also has a sharper more angular crunch (cornstarch rounds off the fried edges and congeals into little globules, which you can see in your picture). Potato starch also leaves an interesting white… Read more »
Absolutely correct…katakuriko is what is traditionally used in Japan. thanks for posting!
where do i get corn starch??? from???
Keri, if you are in the USA, ytou can get it from any grocery.
If you can’t get corn starch where you live, you can also use katakuriko, or
potato starch.
theres specific sauce for chicken karaage??????
No sauce. The Japanese use lemon juice . I don’t use any, it tastes fine without a sauce/dip. 🙂
Is there is a copyright on your chicken karaage photo?
where do i fine kara-age? at whatstore and where? i live in apple valley ca. have got to 5
lg. store and can,t fine it .
thanks