Fried ginger soy chicken with chilli sauce and pickles Bao

Karaage is a totally addictive fried chicken that’s served in izakayas all over Japan. Boneless chicken thighs are marinated in ginger, garlic and soy and then get a dip in cornflour before being fried. It’s the perfect counterpart to pillowy Bao buns and the pickles and hot sauce are the icing on the cake, as it were.

Makes 12 small pieces

Prep 10 minutes, plus 2 hours

marinating

Cook 5 minutes

6 large boneless skinless chicken thighs 2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 Tbsp Japanese light soy sauce

4cm ginger, grated

175g cornflour

1 Tbsp togarashi spice mix vegetable oil, for frying steamed Bao buns

Chilli sauce

2 Tbsp hot chilli sauce

2 Tbsp rice vinegar

1 Tbsp caster sugar ginger pickles or bought pickles, thinly sliced red onion and green chilli, coriander (cilantro) and lemon wedges, to serve

Method

Halve the chicken thighs and place in a bowl with the garlic, soy and ginger and mix well. Cover, refrigerate and ideally leave overnight or for at least 2 hours.

Remove the chicken from the fridge 1 hour before cooking to bring up to room temperature.

Whisk all the chilli sauce ingredients together in a bowl and set aside for serving.

In a shallow dish, mix the cornflour with the spice mix and some sea salt.

Heat the oil in a wok or deep medium saucepan until it reaches 180degC190degC or when a small piece of bread instantly sizzles. Arrange a wire rack over a baking tray ready for draining the fried chicken.

When the oil is ready, dredge the chicken pieces in the flour, shaking off any excess, and drop five or six pieces into the oil. Fry until golden, adjusting the heat so the oil isn’t too hot. You want the chicken to fry slowly enough to cook the inside flesh without the crust getting brown too quickly. Drain on the wire rack to keep the outside crisp.

Serve the fried chicken inside the buns with the pickles, red onion, chilli and coriander, with the lemon wedges and chilli sauce to pass around.