Japanese street food recipe - chicken karaage

There are lots of festivals (known as matsuri) celebrated in Japan throughout the year and at each festival you'll find popular Japanese street food including takoyaki (grilled octopus balls), yakisoba (fried noodles), okonomiyaki (Japanese style pancake), ikayaki (fried squid) and chicken karaage (Japanese fried chicken). At this time of year, the Obon festival takes place which is celebrated to honor the spirits of the dead. Here is my simple chicken karaage recipe to celebrate the Obon festival.

You can use chicken breast or chicken leg and thigh for this recipe. I prefer using chicken leg and thigh as it's much cheaper and tastier. Ask your butcher to remove the skin and bone and then just cut into bite size pieces.

Ingredients:
2 chicken leg and thigh or 2 chicken breast (boneless, skinless and cut into bite size pieces)
2 tbsp sake
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp grated ginger
Potato starch or cornflour (to coat the chicken pieces)
Vegetable oil (for frying)
Black or white sesame seeds (optional to decorate)
Few wedges of lemon (optional to garnish)

Instructions:

1. Mix the sake, soy sauce and grated ginger in a medium size bowl. 
2. Put the chicken pieces in the marinade and stir to make sure the chicken pieces are evenly covered in the marinade. 
3. Leave in the fridge for about 20 minutes or a few hours (the longer the chicken is left in the marinade the tastier and more tender the meat will be). 
4. Drain the marinade from the chicken pieces and pat with kitchen towel to remove the excess marinade.
5. Place the potato starch or corn flour on a large plate and generously coat the chicken pieces.
6. Heat the oil to 170 degrees Celsius and fry for about 5 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and a nice golden brown colour. 
7. Arrange the chicken pieces on kitchen towel to absorb excess oil.
8. Serve with lemon wedges, wasabi mayo or sesame seeds.

TIPS:
- If you like you can leave the skin on the chicken pieces.
- To check the oil temp drop a bit of potato starch into the saucepan if it drops to the bottom and immediately rises then the oil is hot enough. If you notice that the chicken pieces are starting to brown too fast then the oil temp is probably too hot.
- Do not overcrowd the saucepan or the temp of the oil will reduce.

OTHER INFO:

- Check to see what Japanese festivals are in your area every year to get a chance to try Japanese street food. There is a Hanami festival in Dublin every year with a great selection of Japanese street food. Click here for more details.

JAPANESE SWEET POTATO CHIPS RECIPE WITH WASABI MAYO

I mentioned in a previous post that I’m always looking for foods that help asthma since my little boy was diagnosed with asthma this year. Sweet potatoes can help diseases related to inflammation such as asthma and also chronic diseases like cancer and heart disease. It's worth including them as part of your weekly diet as they're filled with nutrional benefits.

This recipe is a quick and healthy way to eat sweet potatoes as a snack or as a side dish to a main meal.

INGREDIENTS:
1 large sweet potato, about 400g (peeled and cut into chips)

2 tbsp vegetable or rapeseed oil
Freshly ground salt and pepper for seasoning 
Nori (optional to garnish)
Wasabi mayo (optional for dipping sauce)

 

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
2. Place the sweet potato chips in a roasting tray and use your hands to coat in the oil and then season with freshly ground salt and pepper. 
3. Spread the chips out in a single layer so they cook properly and won't stick together.
4. Cook for about 30 minutes (depending on the thickness of the chips) in the oven until the chips are cooked through.

TO MAKE WASABI MAYO

Mix the mayo and wasabi together until you get a nice green mayo. Add more or less wasabi depending on your liking. I usually add 1tsp of wasabi to every 2 tsp of mayo.  

NOTES: 

Wasabi is made from the root of the wasabi plant. It has a similar taste to hot mustard and is regularly used in Japan. It is best known for being served on the side with sushi. If you can't find wasabi for this recipe (big supermarkets like Tesco and Superquinn stock wasabi) then Hellman's recently launched Hellmann's wasabi mayonnaise.

Click here to see my recipe on Japanese style fish & chips