Japanese recipe: Karaage(Japanese fried chicken)

Sometimes people ask me what is my favorite dish my mother used to make.
I always say "Karaage"(Japanese fried chicken).

I remember I always requested Karaage to my mother on my birthday and other special days.
I love her simple soy source taste Karaage with a hint of Garlic and ginger. I always wanted to make Karaage like hers and used to ask her how to make.

How much soy sauce and sake do I have to add?
How big do I have to cut chicken?
How long do I have to deep-fry?

My mother always said...

"Some"

I never understood how it is possible to make something without exactly knowing how much to add stuff when I was a kid. Only way I could learn was watching her to make over and over until I understand her "Some".

Now I grew up and started cooking everyday. Her answer makes lots of sense.
I answer the same thing to my husband when he asks me something about cooking.

Recently though I started measuring ingredients more precisely since I thought it is a good idea to keep records of my own recipes.

I have made Karaage in several ways before. I would like to introduce the simplest karaage recipe that I often make, and I think this is very close to my mother's taste. You can use breast meats instead of thigh meats but, thigh meats turn out a lot juicer than breast meats.



Japanese recipe:
Karaage(Japanese fried chicken)

* 2 Servings

+Ingredients+

• 2 Chiken thigh meats
• 2 tablespoons Soy sauce
  
• 2 tablespoons Japanese sake (you can substitute with white wine)
• 1 teaspoon Garlic (paste)
• 1 teaspoon Ginger (paste)
• Potato starch or Corn starch
• Vegetable oil (for frying)

+Directions+

1. Remove Chicken skin (optional) and bone and cut into about 2 bite sizes. (yield about 4 out of 1 thigh meat) *Chicken skin in the US seems thicker compared to the ones in Japan so, I usually remove it.
2. In a Ziploc bag or container, Put chicken, soy sauce, Japanese sake, garlic, and ginger and marinate for about 1 hour. *You can marinate overnight too. It just gets a little bit saltier but it still tastes good!
3. Take chicken out from the bag and coat the chicken with starch. Remove any excess starch by gently tapping chicken with hands.
4. In a pan, add oil (the amount to cover chicken), turn the heat to medium or medium-high, and wait until it warms up. *It is ready to fry If it starts to make small bubbles when sticking a chopstick with a little bit of starch in a pan.
5. Add chicken in a pan and deep-fry them for 2 to 3 mins. Remove chicken from a pan and wait for couple of mins.
6. Heat the pan to high and return the chicken in a pan and deep-fry them another 2 mins or so. (until chicken gets cooked and have a golden brown color.) *If you deep-fry chicken with bone or other parts of chicken or bigger size chicken, you will need more time to cook.
   

Tofu Recipe App for free↓

Japanese recipe: Harusame noodle soup with pork and bamboo shoots

When I was in college in Japan, I used to buy a cup of harusame noodle(Cellophane noodles) soup for lunch. From a variety kind of harusame noodle soup, Kimuchi jjgae and Seafood soups were my favorites. Harusame noodle soups are low is calories and very filling. Depending on the size, they are only about 70-200 calories.

After I moved to the US, I started making my own harusame noodle soup since imported food is very expensive. Also, fortunately harusame noodle soup is quite easy to make. Depending on what kind of taste I want, I change a soup stock, vegetables, and meats and just add harusame noodles in it at the end.

Today, I made harusame noodle soup with pork and bamboo shoots.

I usually put more harusame noodles, veggies, and meats so that I will be full just eating itself. Of course, you can make less and enjoy with onigiri or salads and etc...

You can get harusame noodles at asian markets. I like the one that already separated for 1 serving so that I don't have to hassle tearing apart.



Japanese recipe:
Harusame noodles soup with pork and bamboo shoots

*1 to 2 serving

+Ingredients+

• 1 to 1.5 oz Harusame noodles (30-40g)
  
• 2 oz Pork loin(thinly sliced) (50g)
  
• 2 oz Bamboo shoot(boiled) (50g)
• 1 clove Garlic(minced)
  
• 1 cup Water (240cc)
• 1 teaspoon Chicken Bouillon powder
  
• 2 teaspoons Sesami oil
  
• 1 teaspoon Soy sauce
  
• Salt & pepper
• Black pepper

+Direction+

1. Prepare thinly-sliced pork. It is easier to cut after freezing for about 15 mins. Cut the thinly sliced pork into 1 bite sizes and season lightly with salt & pepper.
   
2. Cut the bamboo shoot into thin strips and mince the garlic.
3. In a pot, drizzle 1 tea spoon of sesami oil and saute garlic lightly. After that, add pork and bamboo shoot and cook until the color of the pork turn into brown.
4. Add water, chicken bouillon power, and soy sauce in a pot. Bring soup to boil and skim any fat(grey forms) floating on a surface.
5. Add harusame noodles in the soup and cook for about 2 min.(until harusame noodles become soft)
6. Serve in a bowl with 1 tea spoon of sesami oil and blackpepper on top.
   

Tofu Recipe App for free↓