Featured Comment:
“Made the karaage chicken bowl & it was a hit with the family! Thank you for the awesome recipe.”
– Lai (from Pinterest)
What is Karaage Donburi?
“Karaage (唐揚げ)” is commonly recognized as Japanese fried chicken, while “donburi (どんぶり)” refers to rice bowl dishes. So, “Karaage Don” essentially means a rice bowl topped with Japanese fried chicken.
However, just to clarify, “karaage” isn’t just about chicken. It’s a frying technique that omits batter, and many other ingredients can be cooked this way too. But I won’t delve into the details now.
To learn more about karaage specifically, check out my karaage recipe.
Visual Walkthrough & Tips
Here are my step-by-step instructions for how to make Karaage Don at home. For ingredient quantities and simplified instructions, scroll down for the Printable Recipe Card below.
Cut the boneless skin-on chicken thigh into large bitesize pieces.
Mix soy sauce, sake, black pepper, grated garlic and ginger paste in a container. Once combined, add the chicken pieces and coat thoroughly. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
While the chicken is marinating, prepare the sauce. Take a small saucepan and add grated ginger, grated garlic, soy sauce mirin, sake, honey, water, rice vinegar and pepper. Bring to a boil over medium heat and then lower to medium-low. Simmer for 1-2 minutes, then remove from the heat and set aside for later.
Start heating a deep pan with about 3cm (1 inch) of cooking oil to 160°C (320°F).
While you wait for the oil to heat up, take the chicken out of the fridge and sprinkle the potato starch on a plate. Shake the excess marinade off each piece of chicken before coating it evenly with the starch.
Once the oil is hot, place the chicken in the pan and fry for 3 minutes on each side.
Increase the heat to 190°C (374°F) and fry for 1 minute on each side.
Transfer to a wire rack to drain the excess oil.
Divide cooked rice between serving bowls and top with shredded cabbage.
Optional step: Reheat the sauce on the stove and add the chicken to the pan. Cook for a few minutes while turning the chicken to ensure it’s fully coated. This will make the flavor of the sauce more intense but it might sacrifice some crispiness of the chicken.
Place the chicken on top of the cabbage. If you didn’t follow the optional step above, then pour the sauce over the karaage and add your choice of toppings. I added chopped green onion, pink pickled ginger, sesame seeds, and chili threads.
Enjoy!
Jump to Full Recipe MeasurementsHow to Store
Generally, it’s not advised to store an entire bowl of assembled karaage don. If you’re looking to save some for later (or you’re meal-prepping), it is best to store each element separately. For more information about storing rice, see here.
Should there be any leftovers, you can either freeze the karaage or refrigerate it, ensuring consumption within 2-3 days.
Reheating in the microwave might cause the karaage to lose its crispiness. My preferred method is to microwave it just enough to warm the inside, then finish it under the grill to regain the outer crisp. If you choose to freeze it, it’ll stay good for about 1-2 months.
Storage summary
Room temperature – Not recommended.
Refrigerated – 2-3 days (only karaage).
Frozen – Up to a month (only karaage).
I hope you enjoy this Karaage Don recipe! If you try it out, I’d really appreciate it if you could spare a moment to let me know what you thought by giving a review and star rating in the comments below. It’s also helpful to share any adjustments you made to the recipe with our other readers. Thank you!
More Donburi Recipes
- 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)
- Tanindon (Japanese Pork and Egg Rice Bowl)
If you want to check out more donburi recipes, please see my list of best Japanese rice bowl recipes.
Crispy Karaage Don (Japanese Fried Chicken Rice Bowl)
Ingredients
Karaage
- 300 g boneless chicken thigh preferably skin-on
- 1 tbsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu)
- 1 tbsp sake
- ⅛ tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp grated garlic or garlic paste
- 1 tsp grated ginger root or ginger paste
- 5 tbsp potato starch (katakuriko) or corn starch
- cooking oil for shallow frying
Sauce
- 1 tsp grated ginger root
- ½ tbsp grated garlic
- 1 tbsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu)
- 1 tbsp mirin
- 1 tbsp sake
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp water
- 1 tsp rice vinegar
- 1 pinch ground black pepper
Donburi
- 2 portions cooked Japanese short-grain rice
- 70 g green cabbage shredded
- finely chopped green onions
- red pickled ginger (benishoga) (benishoga) optional
- toasted white sesame seeds
- chili threads optional
My recommended brands of ingredients and seasonings can be found in my Japanese pantry guide.
Instructions
Karaage
- Cut 300 g boneless chicken thigh into bite size pieces.
- Take a container and add 1 tbsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu), 1 tbsp sake, ⅛ tsp ground black pepper, 1 tbsp grated garlic and 1 tsp grated ginger root. Mix to combine and add the chicken pieces. Mix until fully coated and marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- While waiting for the chicken to marinate, add 1 tsp grated ginger root, ½ tbsp grated garlic, 1 tbsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu), 1 tbsp mirin, 1 tbsp sake, 1 tbsp honey, 1 tbsp water, 1 tsp rice vinegar and 1 pinch ground black pepper to a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then lower to medium-low and simmer for 1-2 minutes. Set aside for later.
- After 30 minutes, add 3cm (just over 1 inch) of cooking oil to a deep pan and heat to 160 °C (320 °F). While you're waiting for it to heat up, sprinkle about 5 tbsp potato starch (katakuriko) onto a plate and take the marinated chicken from the fridge. Coat each piece evenly with starch, making sure to shake off the excess marinade before coating.
- Once the oil is hot, add the chicken pieces and fry for about 3 minutes on each side.
- Increase the heat to 190 °C (374 °F) and fry for 1 minute on each side.
- Transfer to a wire rack to drain excess oil.
Assembly
- Divide 2 portions cooked Japanese short-grain rice and 70 g green cabbage into serving bowls.
- Place the karaage on top and drizzle with sauce (alternatively, you can cook the karaage in the sauce for a few minutes to cover it more thoroughly). Top with finely chopped green onions, red pickled ginger (benishoga), toasted white sesame seeds and chili threads.
- Enjoy!
Karaage by itself is already delicious but this donburi makes it even better without much extra effort.
Hi Nash,
Thank you so much for trying this recipe! I’m happy to hear you enjoyed karaage and donburi as a whole! 🙂
Yuto