So...Last week was strange. First, I thought I would be publishing this on the 24th of September, but it turns out I was a week early. Second, I had to get up at Monday O'clock in order to travel to Peoria to sing Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Peoria Symphony Orchestra. All told a 21 hour day for me. So I can be forgiven for not remembering dates.
Anyway, in this edition of "Making New Things", I did karaage last week. Karaage, or Japanese fried chicken, is a glorious expression of the art. My siblings, when I told them I was making karaage said "so you're making fried chicken ". I said no, fried chicken is fried chicken. Karaage and it's variations found in Korea, are something else. The difference is mainly that karaage is made with boneless and skinless chicken parts. I was inspired to make this because of the anime "Shokugeki no Soma"and of course, Chef John. We all know Chef John, and that’s the recipe and technique I’m showing, but the anime “Shokugeki no Soma” or translated “Food Wars!” is a fun, if weird anime series that ran for five seasons from 2016 to 2020 and based on the manga of the same name. It’s a shounen anime, which means there are tournament arcs throughout the story. It’s all about cooking, cooking techniques, and fun anime stuff. It has an MA rating for “food-gasms” which explode the clothes off those who eat the food. My cover photo is from Shokugeki no Soma.
Anyway, here’s Chef John’s version.
So I began with my marinade. Grated garlic, squeeze ginger, soy sauce, sake, mirin, salt (which I forgot), white pepper, sugar, and some Aleppo pepper.
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I added the chicken and let it marinate overnight. The next day, I took the chicken and gave it a light coating of potato starch. I put it in the fridge while I heated my oil to 350 degrees
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And then into the oil in batches it went.
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I think i did a good job with managing temperature and cooking it just right. I didn't do the standard double fry that is common practice with karaage, but it stayed crispy for a LONG time. Since I was making this for my weekly meals, I knew it would lose the crispy in the fridge, so I made sure I could sample a piece right out of the oil. It was some of the best chicken I ever ate. You could taste the flavors of the marinade all throughout the chicken and it was so so crispy. One tiny flaw in the cooking was those tiny white spots you can see on some of the karaage. That results from having a bit too much potato starch. I tried to brush off as much as I can of the extra before cooking, but I missed a couple of spots.
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I served it with sushi rice nicely seasoned with seasoned rice vinegar and furikake. Such a good pairing.
So, last weekend I needed something quick and easy for the week, so I made an old standard of mine.
BUT—this week, I’m making chicken and dumplings, based on Chef John’s basic technique, but adding herbs, spices, and techniques all my own.
So, what NEW things in the kitchen have you tried? What new things do you WANT to try? Experimenting in the kitchen is a wonderful thing and I hope everyone explores their ingredients that they’re able to procure and find a new and surprisingly tasty dish.