Kara Age (aka: Japanese Fried Chicken), Inspired by Chef Morimoto

I love fried chicken! While I believe Koreans do fried chicken the best, Japanese fried chicken certainly makes the top five. Easy to make at home, this recipe has been inspired and tweaked from Chef Morimoto's Mastering the Art of Japanese Home Cooking.

INGREDIENTS
serves four
one and a half pounds of boneless and skinless chicken thighs, cut into biteable pieces
two eggs
one cup plus two tablespoons of cornstarch
two tablespoons of sake
one tablespoon plus one teaspoon of tamari
one tablespoon of minced mints
two teaspoons of cane sugar
one teaspoon of minced garlic
two garlic cloves
four shishito peppers
vegetable oil, enough to submerge two chicken pieces

In a mixing bowl, lightly beat two eggs. Add sake, tamari, sugar, garlic, mints and two tablespoons of cornstarch, and mix until the sugar dissolves. Add the chicken and cover to refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to three hours.

Heat a wok over high heat and add enough vegetable oil to submerge two chicken pieces. Evenly put one cup of cornstarch on a plate, thoroughly coat each marinated chicken and place them on another plate. To test if the wok is ready, gently put a garlic clove in the wok to see if the oil sizzles around it. If it does, the wok is ready. Add the other garlic clove with two chicken pieces and reduce heat to medium-high. Flip each piece at about three minutes and fry for another three to four minutes. 

Fry two chicken pieces at a time and lay them on a paper towel-lined plate. Once done with the chicken, place four shishito peppers in the wok and fry until they blister. Remove from the wok and serve with this delicious Japanese fried chicken.  

ps: Chef Morimoto recommends serving the kara age with his scallion sauce, which the recipe is available in the cookbook. However, I serve this delicious Japanese fried chicken with store-bought tonkatsu sauce. You can also make homemade tonkatsu sauce using the recipe in Chef Morimoto's Mastering the Art of Japanese Home Cooking. 



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