Chicken Karaage

Ingredients

• 700g boneless chicken thigh, skin on
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sake
• 1 tbsp mirin
• 1 tbsp finely grated ginger, with its juice
• 1 garlic clove, grated
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 80g potato starch (katakuriko)
• 20g plain flour
• Neutral oil for frying, about 1 litre
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges
• Japanese mayonnaise, to serve

Before you cook

• Cut the chicken thighs into pieces roughly 4cm square, leaving the skin attached to each piece.
• Grate the ginger and garlic finely.
• Whisk the soy sauce, sake, mirin, ginger, garlic, sesame oil and sugar together in a bowl.
• Add the chicken, turn it through the marinade and massage it for a minute so the seasoning gets into the cuts.
• Cover the bowl and leave it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
• Mix the potato starch and plain flour together in a wide dish.

Steps

1. Take the chicken out of the fridge and crack the egg into the marinade, mixing it through the meat until everything is coated in a loose slurry.
2. Lift a piece of chicken out, let the excess drip off, and press it into the starch mixture on all sides.
3. Squeeze the coated piece gently in your fist so the starch grips the meat, then set it on a tray.
4. Coat every remaining piece the same way and let them sit for 5 minutes until the coating looks damp rather than powdery.
5. Heat the oil in a deep pan to 160C.
6. Lower in a third of the chicken, skin side down, keeping the pieces apart so they do not stick together.
7. Fry for 3 minutes, turning once, until the coating is pale gold and set, then lift the pieces onto a wire rack.
8. Fry the remaining two batches the same way, letting the oil come back to 160C each time.
9. Rest all the chicken on the rack for 4 minutes, which lets the residual heat finish the inside.
10. Raise the oil temperature to 190C.
11. Return a third of the chicken to the oil and fry for 45 to 60 seconds until deeply golden and audibly crisp, then drain on the rack.
12. Fry the last two batches the same way.
13. Pile the karaage onto a plate with the lemon wedges and a bowl of Japanese mayonnaise, and eat while it is hot.