{"slug":"karaage","collection":"recipes","is_recipe":true,"visibility":"public","title":"Karaage: Japanese Fried Chicken Thighs","description":"Crispy Japanese fried chicken thighs marinated in soy, sake, and ginger, then dredged in cornstarch and fried to golden perfection.","body_md":"\n## Equipment\n\n-   Rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper\n-   Wire rack set inside a second rimmed baking sheet lined with a\n    triple layer of paper towel\n-   Large dutch oven\n-   Tongs\n-   Wire Spider Strainer Skimmer Ladle\n\n## Ingredients\n\n-   1½ tablespoons soy sauce\n-   1 tablespoon sake\n-   1½ teaspoons grated fresh ginger\n-   1 garlic clove, minced\n-   ½ teaspoon sugar\n-   340g (12oz) boneless, skinless chicken thighs trimmed and cut\n    crosswise into 1 to 1½-inch-wide strips\n-   90g (¾ cup) cornstarch\n-   950ml (1 quart) vegetable oil, for frying\n-   Lemon wedges\n\n## Preparation\n\n### Marinade\n\n1.  In a **medium bowl**, combine:\n    -   soy sauce\n    -   sake\n    -   ginger\n    -   garlic\n    -   sugar\n2.  Add **chicken** and toss to combine.\n3.  Let sit at room temperature for **30 minutes**.\n\n### Dredge Chicken\n\n1.  Place cornstarch in a wide bowl.\n2.  Lift **chicken** from marinade, 1 piece at a time, allowing excess\n    marinade to drip back into bowl but leaving any garlic or ginger\n    bits on chicken.\n3.  Coat **chicken** with **cornstarch**, shake off excess, and place on\n    parchment-lined sheet.\n4.  Reserve marinade.\n\n### Heat Oil\n\n1.  Heat **oil** in a large **Dutch oven** over **medium-high heat** to\n    **163°C (325°F)**.\n2.  While oil heats, check the chicken for white patches of dry\n    cornstarch.\n3.  Dip back of a spoon in reserved marinade and gently press onto dry\n    spots to lightly moisten.\n\n### Fry Chicken\n\n1.  Using tongs, add **chicken**, 1 piece at a time, to oil in a single\n    layer.\n2.  Cook, adjusting burner, if necessary, to maintain the temperature\n    between **149–163°C (300–325°F)**, until chicken is golden brown and\n    crispy, **4 to 5 minutes**.\n3.  Using spider skimmer or slotted spoon, transfer chicken to the paper\n    towel-lined rack.\n4.  Serve with lemon wedges.\n\n## Notes\n\n-   **Weights and metric temperatures added 2026-09-05.** The cornstarch dredge\n    was written as `180ml` — a cup measure in metric clothing, not a weight —\n    and is now `90g` at the house rate of 120g/cup. Frying oil moved to\n    `950ml (1 quart)` and the two fry temperatures now lead in °C.\n-   **The cornstarch rate is an estimate.** Published figures run 113g/cup\n    (King Arthur) to 128g/cup (USDA); the house rate of 120 splits them. For a\n    dredge it makes no practical difference — you coat until coated and shake\n    off the rest, so the 90g is a shopping figure more than a measuring one.\n-   **`1 ½` was closed up to `1½`** in the soy sauce and ginger lines. With the\n    space, the parser read the quantity as `1` and stranded the `½` in the\n    ingredient name — scaling the recipe to 2× produced \"2 ½ tablespoons soy\n    sauce\" instead of 3. The text reads the same; the arithmetic no longer lies.\n-   The `½ teaspoon sugar` in the marinade stays in spoons: at that scale (about\n    2g) the spoon is the more accurate instrument.\n-   **Budget about 10 minutes to bring a quart of oil to 163°C.** The stated\n    `cook_time` of 5 minutes covers the frying only, not the heat-up.\n","draft":false,"servings":"2","prep_time":"10 minutes","cook_time":"5 minutes","total_time":"45 minutes","times":{"prep":{"minutes":10},"cook":{"minutes":5},"total":{"minutes":45}},"created_at":"2019-08-22T00:44:56Z","updated_at":"2026-09-05T20:32:53.455686Z","categories":["Main"],"tags":["Chicken","Thigh"],"methods":["Fried"],"themes":["Japanese"],"ingredients":[{"section":"","items":["-   1½ tablespoons soy sauce","-   1 tablespoon sake","-   1½ teaspoons grated fresh ginger","-   1 garlic clove, minced","-   ½ teaspoon sugar","-   340g (12oz) boneless, skinless chicken thighs trimmed and cut","-   90g (¾ cup) cornstarch","-   950ml (1 quart) vegetable oil, for frying","-   Lemon wedges"],"parsed":[{"raw":"-   1½ tablespoons soy sauce","qty":1.5,"unit":"tbsp","item":"soy sauce"},{"raw":"-   1 tablespoon sake","qty":1,"unit":"tbsp","item":"sake"},{"raw":"-   1½ teaspoons grated fresh ginger","qty":1.5,"unit":"tsp","item":"grated fresh ginger"},{"raw":"-   1 garlic clove, minced","qty":1,"item":"garlic clove","prep":"minced"},{"raw":"-   ½ teaspoon sugar","qty":0.5,"unit":"tsp","item":"sugar"},{"raw":"-   340g (12oz) boneless, skinless chicken thighs trimmed and cut","qty":340,"unit":"g","item":"boneless, skinless chicken thighs trimmed and cut"},{"raw":"-   90g (¾ cup) cornstarch","qty":90,"unit":"g","item":"cornstarch"},{"raw":"-   950ml (1 quart) vegetable oil, for frying","qty":950,"unit":"ml","item":"vegetable oil","prep":"for frying"},{"raw":"-   Lemon wedges","item":"Lemon wedges"}]}],"servings_int":2,"qc":{"status":"passed","last_checked_at":"2026-09-05T20:36:01.960542Z","checked_by":"claude-code","standard_version":"2026-09-05","findings_count":0,"stale":false,"completeness_gaps":[]},"mine":false}