Karaage Chicken in air fryer

Karaage chicken, or Japanese fried chicken, is a popular dish in many restaurants, izakayas, or bentos. It has a crispy outer layer with an irresistibly juicy and flavorful chicken inside. If you do not like frying foods, this air fry method is a perfect way to make these karaage. This recipe will show you how to make the easiest, crunchiest, and tastiest karaage chicken in the air fryer.

Ingredients

• Chicken thigh – chicken thigh (with skin on or off) will yield the juiciest karaage. But you can use your favorite cut of chicken.
• Soy sauce – I am using Japanese light soy sauce from Kikkoman.
• Sake – sake is used to remove any unwanted odor and add flavor to the sauce. You can omit this if you don’t like using alcohol in your cooking.
• Grated ginger – fresh ginger works best. I have used prepackaged grated ginger before and it works especially if you are in a rush.
• Grated garlic – about 5 cloves of garlic
• Sugar – I am using white granulated sugar
• Potato starch – this is a key ingredient in making karaage super crispy. If you want crispy karaage I would not substitute this with anything else. It is called katakuriko in Japanese.
• Neutral oil – I recommend using a spray oil because it is easier to spray in the air fryer.

Tips for making karaage chicken

• The key ingredient in making karaage is potato starch. Potato starch is most commonly used to make karaage and for a reason. If you absolutely cannot find potato starch, you can use cornstarch or flour. However, it will not come out as crispy.
• Oil both sides of the karaage before cooking. This not only prevents the chicken from sticking to the air fryer, but it will ensure a crispy finish. Spray with more oil as needed throughout the cooking process.
• Flip the chicken halfway through cooking. This will ensure the karaage is cooked evenly. This will also allow you to check on the chicken to see if you need more oil, to lengthen cooking time, etc.

Other karaage recipe:

This air fry method of making karaage is easy and healthy. However, the more traditional way to make karaage is to deep fry. I have a recipe for that here.

Karaage chicken recipe – deep fry method – click here for recipe.

Links to products mentioned in post:

You can find these at Japanese grocery stores or at most Asian grocery stores.

Potato starch is called katakuriko in Japanese. Packaging may vary but it should say potato starch or katakuriko.

Any type of light soy sauce works with the recipe, but Kikkoman is a popular Japanese brand when it comes to soy sauce.

I use the Cosori Air fryer and I love it. Any air fryer should work.

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