Make way KFC there's a new friggin' chicken champ in town and it's about to go japanese all over you! What the heck am I babbling about? Hello?! I just might be talking about the most amazing fried chicken EH-VER!
Chicken Karaage (I don't even care how you want to pronounce it) is a japanese style of making fried chicken. It was by far the easiest thing to pull off and had the most amazing flavour.
The very first time I laid eyes on this concoction was on an episode of the Food Network's Eat St. (sidenote: one of my favourite shows on Food Network). This particular episode featured a food truck called the East Side King in Austin, Texas that boasts a true asian fusion menu (not those bulls#i& places that throw soy sauce and sesame seeds on something and call it asian fusion). Needless to say, it opened my eyes to so many wonderful food adventures that I am about to embark on - which will include beet fries dammit! But... I digress...
So, get to the point you say... what is in the Chicken Karaage and how did I make it? Patience friends..patience.. Start off with boneless, skinless chicken thighs... cut into bite sized pieces. I don't care what all you chicken breast lovers say but chicken thighs are the BOMB! I created a brine that I marinated the chicken thighs in overnight... equal parts white vinegar, sugar and fish sauce (don't even think of leaving this out or substituting this... if you even think it... stop reading this post and leave), and chopped fresh garlic. In this trial run, I used 1 cup of each and a whole head of garlic. I reserved a full cup of the brine for later... SIDENOTE: This brine is now my most coveted condiment ever. I placed the reserve in a squeeze bottle and now douse everything with it. Rice..splash that... noodles...splash that... salad... yeah! POW! SP-LASH THAT!
After marinating overnight, I drained all the liquid out and prepared a pan with just enough oil (high heat) to cover the beautiful nuggets of goodness. Using a cup of corn starch, I coated all the pieces of chicken and fried them for a few minutes for each batch.
Believe it or not... you do NOT need to add any spices, salt or anything to them afterwards. They are great on their own or you can "splash that" with some more of that brine.. which..yeah.. you guessed it.. I DID!
If you don't believe me when I say how good these things are, let's just say, I have been eating the (small amount) of leftovers in the fridge cold. I open the fridge to grab a glass of juice and I catch them out of the corner of my eye taunting me... seductively teasing me to take one of them... it's okay to eat some at 9:00AM, right?
Well, after a bit of a hiatus, I hope that this post on Chicken Karaage will get me through. Despite getting weird looks from my supposed better half every time I take a picture of something I cooked in obvious victory, I continue to document and hope to get some more free time to post.
