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The Fried Chicken 100 · make it at home

Nakatsu-style karaage (Japanese fried chicken)

1 hr marinate, 25 min · 4

Japan's fried chicken: bite-size thigh in a soy, ginger and garlic marinade, a light coat of potato starch, and two short fries. It's the karaage that Nakatsu's takeaway shops sell by the bag.

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The real one

You need

• 700 g (1 1/2 lb) boneless chicken thighs, skin on, cut into 5 cm (2 in) pieces
• Marinade: 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp sake, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tbsp grated ginger, 2 garlic cloves grated, 1/2 tsp fine salt, 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 egg, beaten (optional, for a juicier inside)
• 80 g (2/3 cup) potato starch (katakuriko), plus 2 tbsp plain flour
• Oil for frying, about 1.5 liters (1 1/2 quarts)
• To serve: lemon wedges, Japanese mayonnaise, shredded cabbage

How to make it

1. Marinate (1 hr): Mix the marinade in a bowl, add the chicken and massage for a minute so it soaks up the liquid. Refrigerate 1 hour (up to overnight). Stir in the beaten egg just before coating, if using.
2. Coat (5 min): Mix the starch and flour in a wide dish. Lift each piece, let excess marinade drip off, and roll it in the starch, tucking the skin under so the pieces are compact. Shake off the extra.
3. First fry (3 to 4 min): Heat oil to 165°C (330°F). Fry in batches, without crowding, 3 to 4 minutes until pale gold. Drain on a rack and rest 4 minutes; the inside keeps cooking.
4. Second fry (1 min): Heat the oil to 190°C (375°F) and fry each batch again 45 seconds to 1 minute, until deep golden and crisp. Drain on a rack.
5. Serve (1 min): Pile on cabbage with lemon wedges and mayonnaise. Eat hot; it's also very good cold the next day in a bento.

Tips

• Thigh, not breast: it stays juicy through two fries.
• Shio (salt) karaage, the other Nakatsu style: replace the soy with 1 tsp salt and 1 tbsp more sake.

Chef Amazing's own home version, in our words; not any restaurant's recipe.