What if I can't find potato starch?

Cornstarch is the closest, giving a similar light, crisp shell, though slightly finer. Avoid plain flour — it makes karaage taste breaded and heavy rather than shatteringly crisp. A mix of potato starch and a little flour is a common middle ground.

The first low fry cooks the chicken most of the way without burning the outside; during the rest the heat keeps moving into the centre and the surface dries; the second hot fry finishes the middle and crisps and colours the crust. Frying once either leaves it pale and greasy or burns the outside before the middle is done. Whichever way you fry, the thickest piece should read 74°C in the centre.

Can I make it gluten-free?

Yes — use tamari or a gluten-free soy sauce in the marinade, and make sure your potato starch is certified gluten-free. Everything else in the dish is naturally gluten-free.

How do I keep it crisp for serving?

Rest the fried pieces on a wire rack, never on paper towels, which trap steam and soften the bottoms. Karaage is best within a few minutes of frying, but a rack in a low oven holds a batch while you finish the rest.

Japan · Meat Dishes · High protein

Chicken Karaage

Name: Chicken Karaage
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: 600 g chicken; 45 ml soy sauce; 20 g ginger; 80 g potato starch; 3 pcs garlic; 30 ml sake; 10 ml sesame oil; 5 g sugar; 1 pcs egg; 800 ml vegetable oil; 1 pcs lemon

Japan's much-loved fried chicken: bite-sized thigh pieces marinated in soy, ginger, garlic, and sake, dredged in potato starch, and double-fried to a pale, craggy, glass-crisp shell. The potato starch and the two-stage fry are what set it apart from any other fried chicken, and a squeeze of lemon at the table is all it needs.

35 min 380 kcal 4 serves Medium💪High protein🇯🇵Japan Jump to recipe★★★★★5.0· 1 reviews

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Ingredients

ServingsMetric

600 gchicken
45 mlsoy sauce
20 gginger
80 gpotato starch
3 pcsgarlic
30 mlsake
10 mlsesame oil
5 gsugar
1 pcsegg
800 mlvegetable oil
1 pcslemon

Note from the author

Sergei Martynov

“Two things separate real karaage from ordinary fried chicken: potato starch and the double fry. Potato starch (katakuriko), not flour, gives that pale, craggy, glass-crisp shell — cornstarch is the closest substitute but flour makes it bready. Frying twice, low then hot, does the cooking in stages: the first gentle fry gets the chicken most of the way, the rest lets the heat carry on into the centre while the coating sets, and the hot second fry finishes the middle and blisters the crust. Don't skip the rest, and check the biggest piece before serving.”

Keep the marinade short. Soy sauce and sake season the chicken fast, but leave it more than an hour or overnight and the salt starts to break down the meat, turning it soft and mealy rather than juicy. Twenty to thirty minutes is plenty for flavour that reaches through the whole piece.

Method

Cut the chicken thighs into large bite-sized pieces, about 4 cm across and 30–35 g each (600 g gives 18–20 pieces); try to keep them a similar size so they cook at the same rate. Keep the skin on, as it fries up crisp and is half the pleasure of karaage.
Make the marinade: mix the soy sauce, grated ginger, grated garlic, sake, sesame oil, and sugar in a bowl. Add the chicken and massage the marinade in. Leave for 20 to 30 minutes; longer than an hour and the soy makes the texture mealy.
Just before frying, add the egg to the marinated chicken and mix — it helps the starch coating cling and stay crisp.
Put the potato starch in a shallow dish. Lift each piece of chicken out, letting excess marinade drip off, and dredge it thoroughly in the starch, pressing so it coats every side. Shake off the excess.
Heat the oil to 160°C for the first fry. Fry the chicken in batches for about 90 seconds — it won't be fully cooked or deeply coloured yet. Remove and rest on a rack for 3 to 4 minutes.
Raise the oil to 190°C for the second fry. Return the chicken and fry for another 45 to 60 seconds until deep golden and shatteringly crisp. Colour alone does not tell you the centre is done: cut open the largest piece or check it with a thermometer — the meat should reach 74°C in the middle, with clear juices and no pink. If it is not there yet, give the batch a little longer in the oil. The double fry is what gives karaage its signature crunch.
Drain on a rack, not paper, so the bottoms stay crisp. Serve hot with lemon wedges to squeeze over, and a bowl of rice and shredded cabbage alongside.

FAQ

You can, but thigh is far better here — it stays juicy through the double fry, while breast dries out quickly. If you use breast, cut it a little larger and shave a few seconds off each fry.