Chicken Karaage (Japanese Fried Chicken)

Chicken Karaage (Japanese Fried Chicken), tender pieces of chicken marinated in soy sauce, ginger, rice wine vinegar and garlic, then fried extra crispy!

This is my absolute most favorite Japanese style dish and today I’m sharing it with you! Chicken Karaage sounds fancy, but it’s just fried chicken! It is such an easy recipe. All it takes is a little marinating time and then frying it up.

What is Chicken Karaage?

When comparing American Fried Chicken and Japanese Fried Chicken, there isn’t too much of a difference. Chicken Karaage is simply a small Japanese chicken nugget if you will. It is dusted with corn starch, potato starch, rice flour, potato flour, or tapioca starch.

The Japanese cooking style of Karaage cooking method means deep frying in hot oil. When making the deep-fried chicken in oil, it is best to use a high heat oil like peanut oil, or vegetable oil.

You don’t even have to use a lot of oil, you could absolutely make this in a little bit of oil in your cast iron skillet or favorite frying pan.

Air Fried Chicken Nuggets

Chicken Karaage is one of my absolute favorite air fryer recipes. Air fryers offer us some healthy options and using the air fryer saves quite a bit of oil and calories if that’s important to you. Air frying still gives it that perfect balance of flavor and crunch, which in my opinion is the best part.

Japanese Comfort Food

This dish is absolute comfort to me, probably my most favorite chicken recipes. When I was a kid, we were stationed at Kadena Air Force Base in Japan and the first time I had this recipe. According to my mom, after that I asked for this all the time!

It probably was about 25 years later before I had it again when I spotted it on a menu in a Hawaiian/Japanese restaurant in San Diego, CA. I yelped out loud with glee…somehow I had forgotten about it after all that time!

If I ever see chicken Karaage on a Japanese restaurant menu, I order it every time. And it’s not often on menus!

Of course, now I also make it at home so I don’t have to wait when I really want it.

Asian Marinated Chicken

As I mentioned, this recipe is SO easy. You could whip this up in just under an hour depending on marinating time.

Just like most marinating times, though, it’s always just a little better the longer you leave it.

I like to marinate the chicken for 24 hours or more, but if you’ve only got 30 minutes, it’ll still be super tasty.

What are the Ingredients in Chicken Karaage

The ingredients are simple and I bet you have some if not most of these in your pantry now!

• Soy Sauce
• Rice Wine Vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or white vinegar
• Brown Sugar
• Fresh or jarred Garlic
• Fresh or ground Ginger
• Boneless, Skinless Chicken Thighs
• Corn Starch
• Olive Oil Spray
• If you like sesame oil, add a dash of this to the marinade

Can I Use Boneless Chicken Breast Instead of Boneless Chicken Thighs?

Most recipes for Chicken Karaage suggest using chicken thighs, and for best results I’m going to agree with this. Chicken thighs hold the juiciness better in the recipe. However, if you only have chicken breast, absolutely use those. Just reduce your cooking time.

How To Make Chicken Karaage (Japanese Cuisine Fried Chicken)

• We are going to marinate, then bread the chicken pieces in corn starch before we fry them up! The corn starch mixture gives Chicken Karaage a light crispy outside without the over-breading that can sometimes happen with regular flour.
• You’re also going to want to make these in small batches; don’t overcrowd the air fryer basket.
• After removing the chicken pieces, transfer to paper towels or a wire rack.
• I love to serve it over rice with a side dish of marinated cucumbers. The perfect Asian comfort dish, if you ask me!

Marinate the Chicken – the marinade ingredients truly make this dish special so don’t leave this part out!

1. In a medium sized bowl, mix the soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, garlic and ginger together.
2. Add the diced chicken pieces to the marinade and then mix thoroughly until the chicken is coated.
3. Cover and chill for 30 minutes or up to 24+ hours. I’ve even marinated this up to 2 days and it was fantastic.

Cook the Chicken

1. Remove the marinated chicken from the fridge and set aside. Discard the excess marinade.
2. In a small bowl, add the corn starch.
3. Toss the chicken into the corn starch until all are breaded.
4. As I mentioned, I used an air fryer for this recipe but you can always fry the chicken in a skillet with 1 1/2″ of vegetable, canola or avocado oil, the oil temperature should be pretty hot, just be sure not to crowd the chicken. Cook until golden brown on all sides (about 5-6 minutes total per batch); transfer to paper towels or a wire rack to remove any excess oil.
5. If you’re using an air fryer, preheat it for 8-10 minutes at 400
6. When ready, spray your air fryer basket with olive oil spray.
7. Add the chicken in a single layer trying not to overcrowd, spraying the chicken with olive oil spray, and then air fry at 400 for about 3-4 minutes, then shake or turn the chicken over once the top of the chicken is brown, and fry again for another 3-4 minutes until brown and crispy. The internal temperature should be at least 165.

This is a delicious main dish and I like to serve it over rice. Add lemon wedges to garnish or add a squeeze of lemon juice at the end.

Let’s Make Japanese Fried Chicken!

This post was updated June 2, 2022

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