Recipe: Chicken Karaage

As all of us are at home all of the time, either getting “cabin fever’ pacing up and down, the telly no longer charms, gardening is out of the question as you live in a flat and reading gets tedious, how about getting into the kitchen and whip up some delectables (we hope they will be!!) which are readily available and which most of my dear readers can purchase, even under the current MCO.

Preparing food and cooking is known to be a calming activity, engaging the mind as well as the body. And as cooking for the family is all that is asked for during this stressful period, I will be posting recipes here on a daily basis for you to experiment with during the days ahead.

I cajoled my dear friend Margarita Lee (Ipohite) who currently lives in Sydney and who used to contribute recipes in these pages in the early days of Ipoh Echo, to ferret in her voluminous log of recipes and share some with us. Here is one of her easy recipes:

Chicken Karaage

by Margarita Lee

Ingredients: 

• 2 Chicken Marylands or 4 Deboned chicken thighs
• 5 tbsp Potato flour 
• 1 cup Cooking oil

Marinade:

• 1 tbsp Minced garlic
• 2 tbsp Ginger juice 
• 2 tbsp Cooking sake 
• 1 tbsp Mirin 
• 1 tsp Sesame oil 
• 2 tbsp Japanese soy sauce 
• A dash of Pepper 

Method:

1. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces.
2. Combine marinade ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
3. Coat the chicken pieces in the marinade and refrigerate for one hour.
4. After refrigerating, coat the marinated individually in the potato flour. 
5. Heat the oil in a wok to about 180℃. To test if the heat is correct, place a chopstick in the oil. If it bubbles, it is ready.
6. Add the chicken pieces to the hot oil one at a time. Lower the flame once all the chicken has been added. 
7. Fry for three minutes, then flip the chicken pieces. Fry for another three minutes.
8. Remove the chicken. Strain the oil to remove any residue.
9. Heat the oil up to 180℃ and flash fry the chicken for 30 seconds. 
10. Remove the chicken and plate. 
11. Enjoy with a fresh wedge of lemon or your condiment of choice.

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