Tatsuta-Age (Deep Fried Chicken)

Here is one of my delicious Japanese-style fried chicken recipes! The chicken is seasoned in soy sauce marinade and when fried, its color becomes the tone of red leaves. This reminds people of red leaves floating on the Tatsuta-gawa River. It's the perfect recipe for the foliage season and a great recipe for parties, dinner, and lunch box.

To create the feeling of fall, I served the chicken on the dining table set with foliage-inspired decor. 

Chopstick rests shaped like Japanese maple leaves.

Paper patterned with Japanese maple leaves.

Tatsuta-Age (Deep Fried Chicken)

(Serves 6 to 8)

·      2 lbs of boneless chicken thighs

·      4 tablespoons of soy sauce

·      2 tablespoons of Japanese Sake

·      2 tablespoons of Mirin (Japanese sweet wine)

·      ¼ of lemon, freshly squeezed into juice

·      1 tablespoons of ground ginger juice

·      potato starch (corn starch)

·      vegetable oil

1.     Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces.

2.     In a medium size bowl or a stainless steel tray, mix the soy sauce, Sake, Mirin, lemon juice, and ginger sauce. Add the chicken into the mixture and marinate well using hands and let it sit for more than an hour.

3.     In a deep frying pan, heat vegetable oil up to approximately 350°F (170℃ ). It is the right temperature when you see fine bubbles form from your wooden serving chopsticks when you dip them into the oil.

4.     Pour the potato starch into a Ziploc bag and thoroughly coat several pieces of marinated chicken with the potato starch.

5.     Fry the chicken in the oil until golden brown. Try not to fry too many pieces of chicken at a time. 

6.     Place the fried chicken onto a stainless steel rack and let it cool. Continue frying the rest of the chicken.