Japan has its own unique way of making homemade fried chicken that has gained popularity in many countries when it comes to fried chicken. The method of making the famous Japanese homemade fried chicken is called karaage.
Karaage (唐揚げ) is essentially a Japanese cooking technique where various foods (most often chicken) are deep-fried in oil until crisp. The chicken is usually marinated and fried in potato starch to obtain the exquisite balance of taste, texture, and aroma.
In this case, one of the essential ingredients that must be included in the marinade is shoyu koji. The Japanese fermented soy sauce will give you the marinade’s base flavor and add saltiness and umami to the chicken. Other ingredients, such as sake and ginger, also play an essential role in making the chicken texture softer and synergizing umami boost.
Keep reading to find out the other important ingredients and the recipe as well!
About Shoyu Koji
Shoyu koji (醬油麹) is an aged pasty sauce made with Shoyu that is perfectly fermented with rice koji. Usually, the fermentation process takes about a week to ten days hoping that the koji will completely absorb the contents in the shoyu.
If we compare it with the regular shoyu, this shoyu koji is considered more affluent in umami and has a deep taste of koji. And, it is said that you’ll taste ten times more delicious than the regular shoyu! Surprising, isn’t it? With a small amount of Shoyu Koji, it is enough to develop the burst of umami.
Regarding how to use it, you don’t need to be confused because shoyu koji goes excellent with any dish that you would typically use shoyu for. The versatile nature of shoyu koji allows it to be used as seasoning/topping, mixed with natto, and marinating for fried food.
Learn more about shoyu koji in the following article:
Japanese Fried Chicken (Karaage) Recipe
Japanese Fried Chicken with Shoyu koji
Ingredients
Main Ingredients
- 4 Boneless chicken thighs
- ½ cup Flour
- ½ cup Potato Starch (katakuriko)
- 1 Lemon
Seasonings
- 3 tbsp Shoyu Koji
- 2 tbsp Sugar
- 2 tbsp Sake
- ½ tbsp black pepper
- as preference Salt
- as preference Paper
- 3 clove Garlic
- 2 inch Ginger
- 1 Egg
Instructions
- Combine ginger, garlic, sake, shoyu koji and sugar.
- Toss chicken into bite-sized pieces.
- Put the tossed chicken in shallow baking dish, marinade it by using the ingredients in (step 1). Leave it for at least 30 minutes to over night.
- In a bowl, combine potato starch, salt and pepper. Roll the chicken in starch mixture to coat. Rest it on the rack.
- In a large pan, heat 2 inches of oil 325 degrees and no lower than 300 degrees. Fry for about 3 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oil using with your chopsticks, drop it on on newsprint or paper towels.
- Zest lemon and sprinkle it all over the cooked chicken. You can add lettuce and cucumber slices for a cool contrast, if you like.
