Ideal Japanese Home-Style Karaage

Prepare 600g of chicken thighs. The ideal amount per recipe is 300g.

Trim off any excess fat, tendons, or tough parts from the chicken.

Cut the chicken thighs into ideal 50g pieces.

In a bowl, combine soy sauce, sake, grated garlic, and grated ginger to create the soy sauce marinade.

In a separate bowl, combine shirodashi, sake, grated garlic, grated ginger, salt, and pepper to create the salt marinade. If shirodashi is unavailable, you can substitute with 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp sugar, and a little chicken stock powder.

Divide the 600g of chicken into two bowls, placing 300g in each marinade.

Massage the chicken with the marinades by hand until the liquid is mostly absorbed.

Cover the bowls with plastic wrap, pressing it down to touch the chicken, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

In a large bowl, mix potato starch and all-purpose flour for the main coating.

Prepare garnishes by thinly slicing cabbage and cutting lemon or lime into wedges.

For extra crispiness, prepare a separate bowl of potato starch and mix with a little water to form clumps.

Heat about 2cm of cooking oil in a pan to 170°C.

Coat each piece of marinated chicken in the flour mixture, ensuring the skin wraps around the meat.

For a crunchier texture, apply the wet starch clumps to the chicken as a final coating.

Fry the chicken at 170°C for 3-4 minutes. Start with the soy sauce batch.

Remove the chicken from the oil and let it rest on a wire rack or paper towel for 5 minutes. This allows residual heat to cook the inside.

Increase the oil temperature to 180-190°C. Fry the chicken again for about 1 minute until it's golden brown and extra crispy.

Plate the finished karaage. Repeat the frying process (first fry, rest, second fry) for the salt-flavored chicken.