Chicken Karaage.....Help!

[Hiroyuki]

The other day, I posted about the karaage I had made in the Cook-Off thread on fried chicken:

I made chicken kara-age for supper tonight.

500 g chicken breast

Marinade liquid: Equal amounts (3 tbsp) of soy sauce, mirin, and sake

Dried garlic slices

Grated ginger

Coating: Equal amounts of weak (cake) flour (hakurikiko in Japanese) and potato starch

What's special about this kara-age is that I tried the double frying technique for the first time. Its effect (crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside) was not very apparent, though, probably because the chicken was cut into small sizes.

I put the marinade liquid in a frying pan and boiled it for some time to turn it into a dipping sauce. I also used the yuzu koshou (tube in the photo).

Do you guys still use double frying? I'm thinking about posting a recipe on RecipeGullet, and any comments on the recipe above will be greatly appreciated.

[Hiroyuki]

I submitted a chicken kara-age recipe here on RecipeGullet.

***

Kara-age (から揚げ, 唐揚げ, 空揚げ) is very similar to tatsuta-age (竜田揚げ). I wasn't sure how they differed, so I did some googling. Here are some of my findings:

1. Tatsuta-age does not use garlic as a marinade ingredient. (Garlic is little used in traditional Japanese cuisine.)

2. Tatsuta-age uses only starch as its coating, while kara-age uses only starch in some recipes and both starch and flour in others.

[Hiroyuki]

a trick I saw on tv a while back,

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Did you watch Tameshite Gatten?:

http://www.nhk.or.jp/gatten/archive/2001q2/20010606.html

First frying: 1 min. 30 sec.

Rest: 4 min.

Second frying: 40 sec.

In both fryings, the temperature should be 180C (356F).

My recipe is as follows:

500g chicken

30 cc shoyu

15 cc sake

7.5 cc mirin

Grated ginger

Optional: Garlic

Equal amounts of katakuriko (not cornstarch) and flour

Refer also to:

http://www.ktv.co.jp/ARUARU/search/arukaraage/kara_1.html

(I wonder if you read Japanese, though)

Good luck!

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Today, I followed the double frying method exactly: 25-g cubes (not specified in my post above), 1.5 minutes first and then 40 seconds.

(I usually cut the chicken into smaller pieces for my children.)

I succeeded in making the best (still moist inside, not overcooked) chicken breast kara-age ever.

I think I'll stick with this method although it's rather cumbersome to scoop up all the pieces after the first frying.

[helenjp]

We had "oven-fried" karaage today . Marinaded as usual, shaken with katakuriko, and baked for 20 minutes at about 220 deg. C. The coating was not like a deep-fried coating at all, but it was a nice light variation.

Double-frying: I was thinking that you might come back to this as your kids got older! I find that it's hardly worth it for a small batch, but if you are making a big batch (dinner plus obento), by the time you have finished frying the first batch, it's time to start the second round anyway.

The chicken stays juicy, and rotating the chicken means that you don't get the last few pieces over-browned from cooking in dirty oil at the end.

[_john]

I marinade my karaage overnight in milk or yogurt mixed with ginger, garlic, msg, salt, and shichimitogarashi. I then drain off the marinade in a colander and shake the pices in a plastic bag with a fifty fifty mixture of potato starch and flour with salt, pepper, and more shichimi. This is my attempt to get something close to buttermilk marinaded fried chicken. it works really well but you need to have some foresight when you want to make it.

What is the most likely place to find chicken thighs with the bone? I never see them. The few times I have asked a butcher for them they said they could special order them.

[v. gautam]

John,

Do you get WONDRA flour in Japan or from a care package sent from America?

If you experiment 1:1 katakuriko + Wondra and see how that works for you? Same with other fried foods, breading for cauliflower , eggplant for parmesan, Wondra and breadcrumbs mixed. Fish, too.

Edited July 19, 2008 by v. gautam (log)

[nakji]

Last night I had some hot oil and a pack of chicken thighs on hand (and how often does that happen?) and thought - hey - why not try karaage? Let's see what everyone in the forums has to say about it....

I used Hiroyuki's method of fry; rest; fry; a 50/50 mix of flour and starch; and a marinade with a 2:2:1 ratio of sake:soy:mirin, along with some ginger and garlic.

It came out perfectly! My first time ever! Who knew it could be so easy?! These are a definite must for my spring hanami bento. But it's almost like dangerous knowledge - now I know I can have perfect karaage any time I want....yikes.

[Hiroyuki]

Let's see what everyone in the forums has to say about it....

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It looks perfect! Looks succulent!

[helenjp]

Hey, looks good. I find that the soy sauce/mirin marinade tends to catch easily and darken if I cook it a little too long or at high heat...but it tastes so much better that way than insipid or underdone! That really looks very tasty.

[SheenaGreena]

Well I followed Hiroyuki's suggestion and managed to come up with the best kara age yet! However, I still didn't acheive that uber crispy crust. I guess for it to get crispy, I need a thicker batter for the katakuriko and flour to adhere to. The marinade isn't thick enough.

I know that you somewhere upthread someone said that nowadays katakuriko is made from potatoes. Well it turns out that I bought a package of the stuff at my local Korean store and it did say dogtooth violet starch in the ingredients. Surprised that I found the real thing in the US. The brand I bought looks very similar to this: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2401/2192773277_3730e40e05.jpg but it wasn't that.

[Hiroyuki]

Well I followed Hiroyuki's suggestion and managed to come up with the best kara age yet! However, I still didn't acheive that uber crispy crust. I guess for it to get crispy, I need a thicker batter for the katakuriko and flour to adhere to. The marinade isn't thick enough.

I know that you somewhere upthread someone said that nowadays katakuriko is made from potatoes. Well it turns out that I bought a package of the stuff at my local Korean store and it did say dogtooth violet starch in the ingredients. Surprised that I found the real thing in the US. The brand I bought looks very similar to this: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2401/2192773277_3730e40e05.jpg but it wasn't that.

I think I'll try another recipe that calls for egg in the marinade.

Example of such a recipe is:

10 ml soy sauce

10 ml mirin

10 ml soy sauce

1/2 beaten egg

grated ginger juice

1/2 tsp. grated garlic

500 g (approx. 1 pound) chicken thigh

Potato starch

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, add chicken, mix well, let stand for 5 min.

Add potato starch little by little, until it absorbs all the liquid.

I'll report back when I try this (or another new) recipe.

[SheenaGreena]

Let me know how it goes. I guess I'm looking for a southern style fried chicken batter and this sounds like it's it