Tori Karaage

Back when I lived in Japan, I applied for a part-time job at a local restaurant called Uotami (魚民), which has a chain of izakaya restaurants. It was an attempt to exit my comfort zone and get a job where I can finally put to practice the stuff I learned in culinary school be able to sustain my spending on Gunpla model kits whenever I looked at Amazon Japan. Good lord. I was spending more than what my sponsor was giving me every three months and I decided the best way to deal with the problem was to have a part-time job that would help me afford the extra spending money I needed.

I worked five hours, three days a week, usually around the time the restaurant opens for the evening. I felt sluggish and slow at times but there were a lot of things I easily picked up and learned how to do quickly. That was thanks to my boss at the time, who was rather friendly towards me despite me being a foreigner. Unfortunately, he was transferred two months after I was hired, and I ended up with a different boss whom I didn't exactly get along with as well.

My favorite part of the kitchen was the fryer. It was my first time dealing with an industrial fryer and having to cook stuff in it, but my first boss showed me the ropes. He showed me where to find the portions of marinated chicken, the fries, and the sliced lotus bits... Among other stuff. Most of the fried stuff just needed to be dusted in a little potato starch then fried for three to four and a half minutes. Within two days of being at the fryer I was already used to it and I was cooking all the fried foods easy (the cleaning of it though, is another story).

Needless to say, during my time there I also learned how to make tori karaage (鶏唐揚げ), Japanese fried chicken, and a staple at every izakaya. My mother and I had been trying to nail this recipe right for years, but it was only after working from an actual restaurant myself and needing to make this over and over that I managed to perfect the proper way of cooking it.

This recipe is good for two. Or just one if you're like me. 😋

Ingredients:

• 300 grams boneless chicken thighs
• 45 ml Japanese soy sauce
• 15 ml cooking sake
• 5 grams crushed/minced garlic
• 5 grams crushed/minced ginger
• 25 grams potato starch
• Japanese mayonnaise (to serve)
• Calamansi or lemon wedges (also to serve)
  
  

This is about a kilo or so of chicken. 😄

1. Slice the chicken thighs in portions of 2 or 3, depending on the size of the chicken.
2. Mix the soy sauce, sake, garlic, and ginger.
3. Put all the chicken in the marinade. Let the chicken marinate for at least an hour.
4. Before cooking, prepare your fryer. Heat up the oil to around 180°C. You'll know it's hot enough when you sprinkle some potato starch on the oil and it sizzles.
5. Dust your chicken into the potato starch, and carefully place each piece into the fryer. Ensure all the chicken is properly submerged in the oil. Cook around 4-5 pieces a time to prevent them all from sticking together. Let the chicken cook for four and a half minutes.
6. Take out the chicken and let it dry on some paper towels.
7. Serve with the Japanese mayo and calamansi/lemon wedges.

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Don't got no deep fryer? Say no more:

This pot can hold up to a liter. What you do is just pour oil up to a third of this pot and just heat it up, then you can cook all your chicken in it. I chose a 1-liter pot rather than one half this size because the oil tends to just pop while you're frying stuff, and a tall pot like this helps keep your hand safe from all the popping oil while you're moving your tongs in there.

Don't forget to squeeze your preferred choice of citrus all over your fried chicken before you eat them! 🍋