Harumi Kurihara Part 2 Chicken Karaage-Japanese Home Cooking

In the Honolulu Advertiser on April 26, 2006 featuring Harumi Kurihara, there was a recipe for her Leaf-Wrapped Fried Chicken. It is basically bite-size chicken thighs (skin on) marinated, deep fried and then served with a selection of herbs, lettuce leaves and sweet chili sauce. Well, my husband loves fried chicken "Japanese"style, aka "karaage." He picked up this other recipe on one of JAL's in-flight magazine. It is Shiso-Wrapped Chicken Tenders. In this recipe I had to wrap the sliced chicken breasts on a skewer, then wrap the shiso around it and then deep fry it. This is actually a tedious thing to do. So I came up with my own version that combines the best of Harumi's and JAL's recipes. It is called Arly's Shiso-Wrapped Chicken Karaage.

Ingredients:

Two of us can finish this off as a pupu

2 chicken breasts (skinless)
10 or more shiso leaves
3 TBSP cornstarch
2 TBSP all-purpose flour
oil for deep frying

Marinade (from Harumi): 1 TBSP shoyu, 1/2 TBSP shokoshu (Chinese sake) I substituted Japanese sake, 1/2 tsp crushed garlic, salt to taste

Harumi's Recipe:
In a flat baking dish mix together the ingredients for the marinade. Here is the key and this is what I like about Harumi's recipe, pierce the chicken in several places before cutting into smaller bite size pieces. Place in marinade for 30 minutes, turning several times.

Drain chicken on paper towels. In a bowl, lightly mix the cornstarch and flour together. My recipe: Wrap a shiso leave around the chicken and roll the chicken pieces in the mixture so that they're generously dusted.

In a heavy, deep frying pan, heat oil to 340 degrees. Deep-fry shiso-wrapped chicken pieces, without crowding, for 4-5 minutes, until crisp, golden and cooked through. Work in batches. Drain cooked chicken on paper towels and keep warm.

JAL's recipe:
Dipping sauce for the chicken (I increased it because my husband loves his sauces):
2 TBSP shoyu, 1 TBSP rice vinegar and a generous dab of ume paste(if you don't have ume paste you can crush a few umeboshi, the salty kind, and use that instead)

JAL's recipe ends with, "Serve with a chilled premium Japanese lager." Okay, I'll go for an Asahi. Totemo oishii desu yo!