Delicious "Karaage Don" Japanese Fried Chicken Donburi

Perfectly crispy Japanese style fried chicken served on crispy cabbage and fluffy white rice. Drizzled with mayonnaise, a squeeze of lemon and a sprinkle of spring onion, this is the ultimate donburi dish if you're a karaage lover like myself!

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Karaage Don

What is "karaage"?

So I'm sure you've heard of "karaage" before, most people know it as Japanese style fried chicken.

But did you know that the term "karaage" (から揚げ) is actually not the name of the dish itself, but actually the method of cooking?

Karaage means to fry without a batter. Rather than batter, karaage is always coated in a thin layer of flour or some kind of starch. This makes it lighter and less greasy, I find. (If it uses a runny batter or eggs or anything like that, it's not technically karaage!)

Not only that, but karaage isn't limited to chicken. You can make karaage with just about anything!

If you want to learn more about karaage specifically, check out my favourite Japanese karaage recipe here.

What is "don"?

Don (丼) is a Japanese word short for "donburi".

Donburi is simple, it means "bowl", more specifically, bowl of rice.

The rice bowl is always topped with something delicious. It can contain meat, fish or vegetables that could have been simmered, fried or raw. The possibilities are endless when it comes to donburi!

Donburi Rice

I'd say that about 99% of the time, donburi is made with Japanese short grain white rice. If you want to know how to cook rice to fluffy, sticky perfection, you can see my step by step guide on how to cook Japanese style rice on the stove here.

Watch how to make Karaage Don here!

Donburi Recipes

I love donburi dishes. They're so filling, satisfying and versatile. You can check out some of my favourite donburi recipes below.

• Karaage Don (Fried chicken on rice)
• Katsudon (Deep fried pork cutlet with steamed egg and onions on rice)
• Gyudon (Simmered beef and onions on rice)
• Oyakodon (Chicken, egg and onions on rice)
• Yakiniku Don (Grilled meat in yakiniku sauce on rice)

There are too many great donburi recipes, it makes me hungry just thinking about them!

Karaage Don

So, here's what you will need to make this Karaage Don:

• Karaage fried chicken
• Cooked rice (preferable white, short grain Japanese rice)
• Shredded Cabbage
• Spring onion
• Japanese mayonnaise (I use Kewpie)

It's very simple, and it's very delicious!

If you feel like you want to add a bit more, maybe you could add a soft boiled egg or some salad ingredients such as lettuce, cucumber or tomato. You can personalise the dish to suit your tastes!

Check out our video for How to homemade karaage donburi

Step by step recipe

Delicious "Karaage Don" Fried Chicken Donburi

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• Author: Yuto Omura
• Total Time: 48 minutes
• Yield: 2 portions 1x

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Description

How to make delicious "Karaage don" Japanese Fried Chicken Rice Bowl. 

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

Donburi

• 2 Bowls of cooked rice (See here if you want to know how to make Japanese style rice on the stove.)
• 1 cup (70g) White cabbage shredded
• 2 tbsp Spring onion chopped
• 2 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise
• Lemon wedges to garnish
• 2 tsp Red pickled ginger optional garnish
• Chili threads optional decoration

Karaage

• 300g (0.6lbs) Chicken thigh – preferably with skin
• 1 tbsp Soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Sake
• 1 tsp Black pepper
• 1 tbsp Garlic paste
• 1 tsp Ginger paste
• 5 tbsp Potato starch (or corn starch)
• Oil for frying shallow frying

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Instructions

Karaage

1. Cut the chicken thigh into bite size pieces.
   
   
2. In a zip lock bag or tupperware, add the 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp sake, 1 tsp black pepper, 1 tbsp garlic paste and 1 tsp ginger paste together with the chicken pieces and marinate for 30 mins in the refrigerator.
   
   
3. Sprinkle about 5 tbsp potato starch onto a plate and take the marinated chicken out of the fridge.
   
   
4. Coat each piece of chicken with the potato starch. (Try to make sure there isn’t too much excess liquid on the chicken. The flavour is already absorbed so you don’t need marinade sitting on top, it can make the starch soggy.)
   
   
5. Heat the cooking oil to 160°C (320°F) and deep fry the chicken pieces for about 3 minutes on each side.
   
   
6. Turn up the heat to 190°C (375°F) and fry for 1 minute on each side.
   
   
7. Remove the chicken from the oil and lay out on a wire rack or absorbent kitchen towels to let any excess oil drip off.
   
   

Assembly

1. Dish up the cooked rice into 2 bowls.
   
   
2. Place ½ cup (about 35g) of shredded cabbage on top of the rice in each bowl.
   
   
3. Divide the karaage pieces between the 2 bowls.
   
   
4. Drizzle with mayonnaise and add 1 tbsp of chopped green onion to each bowl.
   
   
5. Garnish with a lemon wedge (and red pickled ginger or chili threads for color).
   
   
6. Enjoy!
   
   

Notes

Enjoy by itself or with a bowl of miso soup on the side.

If you want to add extra ingredients, you can add salad vegetables or a soft boiled egg.

• Prep Time: 40 mins
• Cook Time: 8 mins
• Category: Meat
• Method: Shallow Fry
• Cuisine: Japanese

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