PREPARATION
15 minutes
MARINATING
1 hour
COOKING
6 minutes
Ingredients
600g boneless chicken legs (2 thighs) 3 tablespoons plain flour
3 tablespoons cornflour
Oil, for frying
Marinade
6 tablespoons sake
1 garlic clove, grated
5g fresh ginger, grated
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon raw sugar
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
Pepper
Sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon apricot jam or marmalade 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
½ tablespoon miso paste (brown or red) 1 tablespoon mirin
½ garlic clove, chopped
1–2 teaspoons chilli powder
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2cm leek (white part), finely chopped
Directions
Cut each chicken leg into about 6 pieces (the top into 4 pieces and the drumstick into 2 pieces).
Mix all the marinade ingredients together in a bowl. Add the chicken pieces and massage the marinade in a bit. Marinate for 1 hour.
Mix all the sauce ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.
Mix the flour and cornflour together on a plate. Put the chicken on the plate and flour the pieces well. Heat a 3cm depth of oil to 170°C in a deep frying pan. Drop the chicken pieces into the oil and fry for about 4 minutes. Increase the temperature to 180°C and cook for a further 2 minutes or so. Check if the chicken is cooked by piercing it with a skewer; if the liquid that comes out is transparent, the chicken is cooked.
Drizzle with sauce and serve.
Tip
It is very important to use the chicken leg and not the breast. It is the fat and the skin that make this dish so tasty and moist. Also, the result is much better with free-range chicken.
Vegan Version
Replace the chicken with rehydrated soy protein (large pieces) or seitan, marinating it the same way as for the chicken.
Recipe extracted from Japanese Home Cooking by Maori Murota
Published by Murdoch Books, RRP $55
