This Karaage Chicken is a delicious Japanese-style chicken dinner, with tender pieces of chicken marinated before being cooked until beautifully golden. Ginger, garlic and soy sauce give the chicken plenty of savoury flavour.
A little sugar balances the marinade, while rice wine vinegar adds a subtle tang. It’s a straightforward way to make flavour-packed Karaage Chicken at home and is perfect for an easy family dinner.
What is Karaage Chicken?
Karaage Chicken (said Kah-la-ah-geh) is a Japanese marinated chicken, often skin-on chicken thighs, then coated and deep fried. The difference between this and fried chicken is the seasoning or marinating it first.
It is marinated with a combination of soy, garlic and ginger and coated with either cornflour or potato starch. There are many recipe variations online but all contain those basic flavours.
Making Karaage Chicken from scratch
We have been eating Karaage Chicken soft tacos once a week for several months so I was keen to try and recreate the frozen convenience version we have been using from scratch now that we are getting back to routine.
Our favourite Ranch Coleslaw for Karaage Chicken
So while the chicken recipe is something special here, the basic soft tacos are something we have once a week, with various meat fillings but always our favourite Ranch Coleslaw.
We have it so often with various meals since everyone loves it. It is delicious with lasagne too.
We have even perfected it by adding a little extra Ranch dressing to the slaw to make it even better!
What goes in our Karaage Chicken soft tacos?
Whether we use this Karaage Chicken, leftover roast lamb or chicken it is such a versatile dinner. We use Farrah’s mini soft tacos which are just delicious, a little cheese, the ranch coleslaw, meat and top it off with a lovely Kewpie Mayo. I hope you enjoy these flavours together.
How to marinate Karaage Chicken
The ingredients for the Marinade are as follows:
- Soy Sauce
- Garlic
- Fresh Ginger
- Sugar
- Sake, Mirin or Rice Wine Vinegar
- Salt & Pepper
You can marinate this anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours so you can prepare this step in the morning. The ginger and garlic give a lovely spice to the recipe, the original versions use Sake which I do not have. Others replace this with mirin but today I have used Rice Wine Vinegar as I always have this on hand.
Once it has marinated I add an egg and some cornflour (or potato starch) then prepare the hot oil.
Deep frying Karaage Chicken safely at home
I wanted to share with you an easy way to deep fry. It isn’t something I often do, but this recipe calls for it and it is so good! If you are uncomfortable with deep frying you can of course shallow fry this recipe but the genuine way is to deep fry so I would like to share my tips with you.
To deep fry you need to either use a deep fryer or as in my case a saucepan with 3-4 cups of oil. The best oil to use is one with a high smoke point. I have used Canola, but Grapeseed, Soy or Corn oil is also suitable.
You can also reuse drained oil used for deep-frying, see my notes below for how to do this.
Ideally, you want to use a thermometer that goes up to 200C to test the oil for the perfect temperature (170C). I do not have one so there are a few techniques that I use to test the readiness of the oil for cooking.
Trust me, you want the right temperature, too hot and it will instantly burn, too cold and it won’t work.
How to test oil temperature without a thermometer
There are three methods recommended online for testing the right temperature of the oil for deep-frying if not using a thermometer. The oil can take at least 10-20 minutes to come to temperature.
1) Use the handle of a wooden spoon or wooden chopstick. Hold the chopstick in the oil once it has been heated, if it is ready small bubbles will readily boil around the wooden spoon and rise to the top. If bubbling too rapidly it is too hot and needs to be cooled down.
2) The second method is to use a small piece of bread. Drop it into the oil and it should take up to 60 seconds to go golden brown. Again, if it browns too quickly the heat is too hot.
3) The final method is to drop a kernel of popping corn in the oil when it is cold, when it pops remove it and your oil is ready. I have not tested this one!
You want to keep the temperature steady and cook the chicken in batches. You will get to know the oil and the right temperature as you go. Please take care working with hot oil if you are new to it.
How to make Karaage Chicken extra crispy
Some people double fry the chicken to add an extra crispy layer, if you wish to do this cook the chicken for 3 minutes or so, drain then return to hot oil before serving for a further 3 minutes until golden brown.
Ensure the chicken is cooked through by slicing and testing a piece of chicken.
Other chicken recipes to try
If you are looking for more easy chicken recipes to add to your meal plan, I have plenty of delicious ideas to try. Here are a few more family favourites you might enjoy.
- Creamy Lemon Parmesan Chicken
- Chicken Mascarpone Pesto Filo Parcels
- Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Chicken
- Creamy Garlic Bacon Chicken
For more chicken dinner ideas, visit my round up post on my website showcasing a delicious selection of 20 of the best recipes to cook with chicken.
Karaage Chicken recipe
Karaage Chicken
Karaage Chicken is a flavour-packed chicken dinner marinated with ginger, garlic, soy sauce and rice wine vinegar before being cooked until golden.
Ingredients
- 500 grams Chicken Thighs, Skin-On, Boneless
- 1 Tablespoon Sake or Rice Wine Vinegar
- 3 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Ginger, fresh, finely grated
- 1 teaspoon or clove Garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon Sugar
- Pinch of Salt & Pepper
- 1 Egg, whisked
- 40 grams Cornflour (1/3rd Cup)
- 4 Cups Canola Oil (for deepfrying)
Serving Idea
- Mini Tortillas
- American Ranch Coleslaw
- Cheese, grated
- Kewpie Mayo
Instructions
- Slice the chicken thigh into 2-3 cm chunks of similar size, with the skin on and add to a medium bowl
- Add to this the sake (or rice wine vinegar), soy sauce, ginger, garlic, sugar and salt and pepper and mix well to combine
- Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to marinate
- When ready to cook begin to heat the oil for deep-frying. Use a deep saucepan if not using a deep fryer.
- Heat gently until the temperature is 170C or check out my 3 methods above for how to know when the oil is ready.
- CAUTION the oil is very hot, too hot and your chicken will cook too quickly and burn.
- Add the whisked egg to the chicken and stir well, add to this the cornflour and stir to combine
- Once the oil is at temperature add the chicken one piece at a time, cooking in batches of 5-6 pieces.
- Cook the chicken for 5-7 minutes until deeply golden brown and the chicken is cooked through
- Remove with a sieve or slotted spoon, drain and place on a paper towel
- Repeat with the next batch until all the chicken is cooked, ensuring the temperature of the oil remains constant.
- Serve the chicken while still warm, see my post for a serving idea
- Enjoy!
Notes
How can I tell when my oil is at the right temperature for deep frying?
You want the oil to be 170C or 350F for this recipe, see three ways to test for this if not using a thermometer
There are three methods recommended online for testing the right temperature of the oil for deep-frying if not using a thermometer. The oil can take at least 10-20 minutes to come to temperature.
- Use the handle of a wooden spoon or wooden chopstick. Hold the chopstick in the oil once it has been heated, if it is ready small bubbles will readily boil around the wooden spoon and rise to the top. If bubbling too rapidly it is too hot and needs to be cooled down.
- The second method is to use a small piece of bread. Drop it into the oil and it should take up to 60 seconds to go golden brown. Again if it browns too quickly the heat is too hot.
- The final method is to drop a kernel of popping corn in the oil when it is cold, when it pops remove it and your oil is ready. I have not tested this one!
Can I store and reuse oil from deep-frying?
Yes, this oil can be used 3-4 times. Ensure it is completely cold before straining through a very fine sieve and storing in an airtight bottle.
Nutrition Information
Yield 4 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 2554Total Fat 264gSaturated Fat 24gUnsaturated Fat 241gCholesterol 207mgSodium 807mgCarbohydrates 11gFiber 0gSugar 2gProtein 33g
JustAMumNZ.com, occasionally offers nutritional information for recipes contained on this site. This information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although justamumnz.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
I really hope you love this Karaage Chicken as much as we do. It is such a delicious way to enjoy chicken, and one I know we will be making again and again.
If you give this recipe a go, I’d love to hear how it turned out for you in the comments. You can also leave a ⭐ rating in the recipe card above, it really helps others find and enjoy this recipe too.
You can also find me over on Facebook and Instagram for more baking and cooking inspiration, or join my newsletter to receive my latest recipes straight to your inbox.
Happy baking,
Anna x
Jo says
Yum this was great, so easy too! Thank you
Bev McKay says
This was so good, I served this with steamed rice & stirfry vegies.
Meredith Whitehorn says
It’s made it for dinner. So nice. Made it gluten free with corn tortillas and gluten free soy sauce. We really enjoyed it.
Kimberley says
Haven’t made it yet but by crikeys I am excited to! 😀 The wraps look so simple yet so delicious! And such everyday ingredients that we always have on hand. Will report back after we’ve tried it 🙂