You don’t have to go far to get to the Japan – or at least a part of it. Food is one of the gateways to discover and experience other cultures and, with its rich cuisine, it is easy to enjoy a little of the Asian country in the kitchen of your own home.
O CNN Travel & Gastronomy dove into Japanese community in São Paulo and discovered more of its flavors, knowledge and history in the city of São Paulo. In addition to eating at izakayas, singing karaoke and contemplating cultural spaces, Daniela filomeno learned to prepare a typical kaarage don beside Toshi Akuta, former chef of Izakaya Matsu and currently owner of Amo-te Sando, delivery of sandô (Japanese sandwich).
He explains that karaage is a juicy, crunchy fried chicken served in Japan, commonly also as an appetizer in local izakayas. The don refers to the donburi, a bowl of rice served with something on top – in this case, the chicken. According to the chef, the ideal is to eat the karaage with your hands and the rice with the chopstick, making this mixture during the meal.
Adopting a way that makes the chicken more appetizing and not so dry, see below how to prepare a karaage don with the pink chicken inside, moist and crunchy on the outside:
Ingredients:
– 1 boneless thigh
For marinade:
– 1/2 xí cara de shoyu
– 1/2 cup of dry sake
– 1 col of grated ginger tea
– 1 clove of garlic, chopped or grated
To fry:
– 900 ml vegetable oil
– maize starch
For the ponzu sauce:
– 1 parte de shoyu
– 1 part citrus (it can be rice vinegar, lemon or orange. In this recipe we use 1/2 part lemon and 1/2 part orange)
To end:
– chives, chopped to taste
– mayonnaise to taste
– pickled ginger (beni shoga) to taste
– 1/2 boiled egg with soft yolk
– Japanese boiled rice
Preparation method:
– Cut the thigh into larger, thicker pieces.
– Place in a bowl and season with 1 teaspoon of grated ginger, 1 clove of minced garlic, ½ cup of dry sake (serves to make the chicken crispy) and ½ cup of dark soy sauce.
– Marinate for 30 minutes in the mixture inside or outside the refrigerator
– While the thighs marinate in the mixture, make the ponzu sauce: in a bowl, mix the soy sauce with the citrus part
– After marinating, gradually mix the cornstarch with your hands until it has a thick porridge consistency.
– With oil in a frying pan (not too hot, around 180°C), place the breaded thigh pieces and fry. chef’s tip: one of the ways to know if karaage is good in the frying pan is by its weight, since it loses water in frying and becomes lighter – a good indicator that it is already cooked inside.
Mounting:
– Put the warm rice in the bowl (bowl)
– Saute sprinklings of sesame on top of rice and place the thighs on top
– Place the soft yolk hard-boiled egg on the side of the chickens and on top of the rice
– Add the ginger (beni shoga) and pour at least two ladles of the ponzu sauce over the chicken pieces
– Finish with the mayonnaise on the side and the chives on top (very thin and with round cuts, you can also use the stalk).
Reference: CNN Brasil
