This "Tori to Yasai No Kurozu An" recipe is based on a vibrant dish that you can find at a well known chain restaurant in Japan called "Ootoya". It's their most popular dish, and for good reason! Delicious fried chicken with crunchy vegetables in a sweet and sour black vinegar sauce, it's SO good!
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Tori no Kurozuann
What is "tori to yasai no kurozu ann"?
It's a long name, but "Tori to Yasai no Kurozuankake" (鶏と野菜の黒酢あん) can be translated literally as "Sweet and Sour Chicken and Vegetables".
Kurozu ann
Kurozuankake is a Japanese style of sweet and sour sauce made with black vinegar called "kurozu".
It's a kind of aged rice vinegar that is dark in colour and quite subtle in flavour. It's not too sour and some compare it to balsamic vinegar, but a little less sweet. If you need a substitute, you can mix 1 tsp of balsamic vinegar with 1 tsp of rice vinegar.
You can buy Japanese Kurozu black vinegar on Amazon here.
"Ankake" means thick, sweet sauce. This refers to the thick, syrup like texture of the sauce that helps it stick to the meat and vegetables.
This sauce can be bought pre-made in Japanese supermarkets, but I'm going to show you how to make it from scratch! It's a nicely balanced sweet and sour sauce that is perfect for stir fries!
Vegetables
Kurozuankake contains a variety of different vegetables.
- Carrot
- White onion
- Aubergine (eggplant)
- Green pepper (bell pepper/piman)
- Renkon (lotus root)
- Potato
Other variations
Although we will use chicken in our recipe, Kurozu Ankake also works well with…
- Pork
- White fish
- Prawns
- Beef
- Vegetables only
See How to make Ootoya Style Sweet and Sour Chicken "Tori no Kurozu An"
Shallow Frying
The main cooking method used for this dish is shallow frying. The vegetables are fried first and then the chicken is coated in starch and fried too. Frying at a high temperature is what gives the vegetables a nice crunch and the chicken a crispy outside.
Frying is the technique that Ootoya uses, so for this recreation recipe I will be following the same technique. But there are some other options for if you don't want to shallow fry.
- Stir frying the vegetables
- Blanching or boiling the vegetables for a short time
- Baking the chicken
- Use store-bought battered chicken
So there are other ways to prepare the meat and vegetables, but the texture won't be so close to Ootoya's version.
The final step is to add everything to a frying pan with the sauce and let it thicken up!
Ootoya
Ootoya is a popular chain restaurant in Japan that serves "teishoku" style meals.
If you visit Japan, I definitely recommend going there! They have a great range of typical Japanese dishes on the menu, their ingredients are fresh and everything is made on site (no frozen stuff). Some stores even have a touch screen menu with language options in English, it's very convenient! I go there whenever I feel like something filling and comforting.
They state on their website that kurozuan is the most popular item on their menu and basically their signature dish. The official recipe is even posted online! (Japanese)
My version is simplified and uses more accessible ingredients, but when it comes to taste, I honestly don't think you'll be able to tell the difference!
Teishoku
You might be wondering what a "teishoku" meal is. Teishoku is a kind of Japanese set meal. It's a set price and everything comes together on one tray.
Teishoku usually consists of:
- A main side dish (meat, fish, etc)
- Rice
- Miso soup
- Second side (extra vegetables, salad, etc)
- Pickles
Kurozuan would be the main side dish in a teishoku set.
Teishoku is comforting, filling and visually appealing, so why not try making it at home?
Print
Ootoya's Black Vinegar Sweet and Sour Chicken (鳥と野菜の黒酢あんかけ)
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 2 portions 1x
Description
Learn how to make Ootoya's number one most popular dish, "Tori to Yasai no Kurozuan"(鶏と野菜の黒酢あん). Delicious fried chicken with crunchy vegetables in a sweet and sour black vinegar sauce. (Serves 2) Perfect with rice, miso soup and pickles.
Ingredients
Marinade
- 250g (½lb) Chicken thigh cut into small bitesize pieces
- 2 tsp Soy sauce
- 1 tsp Sake (or white wine)
- ½ tsp Ginger paste
- ½ tsp Garlic paste
Sauce
- 3½ tbsp Granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp Apple cider vinegar
- 1½ tbsp Soy sauce
- 2 tsp Kurozu Black vinegar
- 2 tsp Mirin
- 1 tbsp Sake (or white wine)
- 1 tbsp Water
- 1 tsp Corn starch
Vegetables
- Oil for shallow frying
- ½ Carrot
- 1 small (or ½ large) Aubergine (eggplant)
- 3~4cm (1½ inches) Renkon Lotus Root (optional)
- ½ White Onion
- 1 Green (bell) pepper (or 2 piman peppers)
- 2-3 tbsp Corn starch (for coating the chicken)
Instructions
Marinate
- Put the chicken thigh into a container with, 2 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp sake, ½ tsp ginger paste and ½ tsp garlic paste.
- Mix well to make sure all of the chicken is coated in the marinade and leave for 10 minutes.
Kurozuan Sauce
- Take a jug or bowl and add 3½ tbsp granulated sugar, 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1½ tbsp soy sauce, 2 tsp black vinegar, 2 tsp mirin, 1 tbsp sake, 1 tbsp cold water and 1 tsp corn starch.
- Mix well until there are no more lumps of corn starch and the sugar has dissolved.
- Set aside for later.
Prepping
- Take a large frying pan and pour in vegetable oil until it's about 2cm high (approx 1 inch). Heat the oil to 180°C (approx 355°F).
- Chop the aubergine (eggplant) into chunky bitesize pieces with the skin on, and soak in water for 5 minutes.
- Peel the carrot and cut it into 3~4cm pieces. (approx 1½ inches)
- If you're using lotus root peel it and cut into 8mm thick slices. (approx ¼ inch) Wash and dry after cutting.
- Cut the green pepper and white onion into 2cm (approx 1 inch) pieces.
Frying
- When the oil is heated, add the carrot and fry for 3 minutes on each side.
- Remove the carrot and place on a wire rack to allow the excess oil to drip off (you can also place them on a paper towel to help absorb the oil).
- Remove the aubergine from the water and dry each piece thoroughly with a paper towel. Place each piece into the oil with the green pepper (and lotus root if using) and fry for 1 minute.
- Take the aubergine and green pepper (and lotus root) out of the oil and place on the wire rack.
- Add the onion to the oil and fry for 1 min. Once finished, add the onion to the wire rack.
- Lower the heat to 170°C (340°F).
- Sprinkle 2-3 tbsp of corn starch onto a plate.
- Take the marinated chicken and coat each piece with corn starch before adding it to the oil.
- Fry the chicken for 3 minutes on each side.
- Increase the heat to high (about 190°C / 375°F) for 1 minute on each side and then remove the chicken from the oil and place on a wire rack to allow the oil to drip off.
- Finally, heat a large frying pan or wok on medium and add a small drizzle of oil.
- Add the vegetables and chicken to the pan.
- Take the jug of sauce and give it a mix before pouring it into the pan over the chicken and vegetables.
- Stir fry until the sauce is thickened and coats the chicken and vegetables (it will only take a few minutes).
- Serve up and enjoy!
Notes
This dish can be made with pork or fish too.
If you don't want to deep fry, you can stir fry the vegetables instead. (Cooking time might be longer).
If you can't get black vinegar, mix 1 tsp of rice vinegar with 1 tsp balsamic vinegar.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Meat
- Method: Shallow Fry
- Cuisine: Japanese
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Gen
I've been missing this dish from Ootoya now that I'm back in the USA. Thank you for creating this recipe for it as my guidance. It was pretty good!
★★★★★
Yuto Omura
I get that, Ootoya has some great dishes! Happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe, thank you for the rating! 🙂