Tori No Kara Age (Japanese Style Fried Chicken)

OOOOoooOooOOOoo.... fried chicken! This was a very popular dish especially with children at a Japanese restaurant called Yokoyama in Doncaster. I would know because I worked part time at this restaurant during my uni days. It was more like a dress up party going to work, wearing a stiff white wrap underneath my peachy pink kimono, fancy white socks with a wedge between the big two and second toe, so I could put on my wooden clogs with red straps. Hair up in a bun with chopstick through it, I really felt like a wannabe Geisha.

Yokoyama is a real Japanese rstaurant. When I said 'real', I meant that it actually has a Japanese chef, unlike a lot of Japanese places in the city that are actually run by the Chinese. No offense to the Chinese (I am Chinese myself) but it is just not the same.

It is at Yokoyama that I fully understood why Japanese cuisine is what it is. Tak San, the head chef, is very pedantic when it comes to the flavour of the food (he even makes his own soy sauce!). Equally important is the way it is presented. I have been told that everytime I bring out a dish, it needs to be placed in a way that it would look the best on the table and also need to consider how each guest at the table would view the dish.

Tak San, the head chef, spends most days in the kitchen preparing the dishes and during service times, he is behind his sushi and sashimi counter, which is in full view of dining guests. It is through my interactions with Tak San that I picked up a few Japanese phrases. What I miss most about this job were the suppers that I get to bring home! My favourites were Teriyaki Chicken on Rice and Chirashi Sushi (assorted sashimi on rice).

Back to the chicken, this is a quick and easy recipe, great as a starter or snack.

Recipe

400g chicken thigh cutllets, cut into bite-size pieces
2-3 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp sake
3 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tsp finely grated ginger
2 garlic cloves crushed

katakuriko or potato starch, for coating
veg oil for deep-frying
Japanese mayo to serve

Marinate chicken pieces in soy, sake, mirin, ginger and garlic. Leave in fridge for 2-3 hrs.
Coat chicken pieces lightly in potato starch and fry in hot oil. Drain on absorbent paper and serve warm with Japanese mayo on the side.