Japanese Fried Chicken (Tatsuta-Age)
Potato starch in place of flour gives Japanese fried chicken a craggy crust that stays shatteringly crisp long after frying.
- Makes4-6 servings
- Cook Time2½ hours
- Active time plus cooling30 minutes active
Tatsutaage is a specific type of tori no karaage, or Japanese fried chicken. Marinated in soy, sake and mirin, then coated in potato starch that leaves a snowy, dusty look, the two-bite pieces are delicious hot out of the oil or even at room temperature. Double-frying results in a delicate crispness of the crust and even doneness of the chicken. It sounds like a nuisance, but since the oil already is hot and each batch takes only a few minutes, it’s an easy step with a huge payoff. We like a lemony mayonnaise-based sauce for dipping, but if you prefer, lemon wedges for squeezing are good, too. Shichimi togarashi is a Japanese spice blend. If you can’t find it, simply leave it out, or substitute with a pinch of cayenne or a squeeze of Sriracha.
Here is our original Japanese Chicken Karaage [https://www.177milkstreet.com/recipes/japanese-fried-chicken-karaage] recipe featured on Milk Street TV [https://www.177milkstreet.com/tv/japan-fries-chicken].
Don’t mistake potato flour for potato starch. The two are not interchangeable. Potato flour is made by cooking, drying, then grinding whole potatoes. Potato starch—the correct ingredient here—is starch extracted from potatoes.
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