Chicken Karaage
… or Mum’s Fried Chicken as it’s now known in our house! This is a surprisingly quick and easy dinner that the whole fam will love. Trust me!
Serves 4
750g boneless chicken thighs, cut into 5cm pieces
2 cloves of garlic, finely grated
2cm piece of ginger, peeled & finely grated
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp chinese rice wine
1 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp caster sugar
a pinch of sea salt
corn flour for coating
canola oil (or your preferred oil) for frying
For the Quick Pickle
2 Lebanese cucumbers, roughly cut into bite-size cubes
2 radishes, thinly sliced into circles
1.5 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp sesame oil
sea salt
Spicy Green Sauce, Kewpie mayonnaise and lemon wedges to serve
In a bowl, combine the chicken with the garlic, ginger, soy sauce, rice wine, mirin, sesame oil, salt and sugar. Stir to coat and allow to marinate for 30-60 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine the cucumbers, radishes, vinegar and sesame oil in a small bowl. Season well with salt and stir so that everything is coated. Set aside to lightly pickle.
Sprinkle the corn flour onto a shallow bowl. Doing one piece at a time, remove the chicken from the marinade and toss in the flour to coat. Shake off any excess flour and transfer to a clean tray. Set aside for 10 minutes to dry out slightly.
Heat the oil at least 6cm deep in a wok/deep saucepan to 170C (test it’s hot enough by dropping a sprinkle of flour in - if it bubbles up, you’re good to go).
Fry the chicken in batches - don’t overcrowd or it won’t crisp up - for 3-4 minutes or until cooked through. Transfer to a wire rack or paper towel to drain.
Squeeze over the lemon juice and serve with the pickled veg, a squirt of kewpie mayo and of course, a good dollop of Spicy Green Sauce.
If your gang are anything like mine, they’ll start requesting this on the reg!