Hi, I am Francis,
the host of this show "Cooking with Dog."
First, let’s prepare the chicken.
Prick the skin side using the tip of a knife.
This will help the chicken to absorb the seasonings.
Flip it over.
Trim off the excess fat.
Make several cuts across the tough, stringy part.
Then, prick the chicken with the tip of the knife again.
Now, cut the chicken into large bite-size pieces.
Place the pieces into a bowl.
Add the soy sauce,
sake,
salt,
pepper,
grated ginger root and garlic
and the sesame oil.
Toss to coat, rubbing the seasonings into the chicken thoroughly.
Rub the seasonings into the chicken well
so that it will be ready to cook in 30 minutes.
Let’s make the karaage.
To the seasoned chicken,
add the beaten egg a little at a time and rub it in thoroughly.
This will help soften the karaage
and allow it to retain the savory juices inside.
Then, add the potato starch.
Lightly toss to coat.
Now, heat the vegetable oil to a relatively low temperature.
Place the chicken pieces into the oil.
At about 160 degrees °C or 320 degrees °F,
small bubbles will form around the chicken.
Don’t touch them until the batter firms up
otherwise the outer layer will break apart.
When the batter firms up, flip them over.
Lightly brown the pieces, remove
and place them onto a cooling rack.
The remaining heat will continue cooking the inside.
And now, heat the oil to about 180 degrees °C
or 360 degrees °F on high heat.
Then, place the chicken into the oil again.
Brown the chicken pieces evenly.
One of the advantages of using a set of kitchen chopsticks
is that you can feel how crispy the outer texture is.
When the outside is crispy and the color is golden brown,
remove the excess oil thoroughly
and one by one place them onto the cooling rack.
Then, place the karaage
next to the lettuce and parsley leaves on a plate.
Cooking at a low temperature first will help cook the inside
and then deep-frying at a high temperature
will help remove the excess oil easily.
This 2 step deep-frying method
will help avoid undercooking the inside
and also overcooking the outside
so you can easily make the delicious karaage.
The karaage is still delicious when cooled
so it is often used as a bento sidedish.
Good luck in the kitchen!