What is Karami Chicken?
Karami chicken (辛味チキン) is one of the most loved dishes at the Japanese-Italian family restaurant “Saizeriya (サイゼリヤ).”
Although Saizeriya specializes in Italian-style dishes such as pasta and pizza, this popular Japanese chain restaurant also offers its own original creations inspired by Western cuisine, some that don’t exist anywhere else in the world. One such dish is Karami chicken, an addictive appetizer that resembles American Buffalo wings.
In Japanese, the word “karami”(辛味) means “spicy flavor”. Despite the name and vibrant red appearance, Saizeriya’s karami chicken is barely spicy at all. They have complex tastes with a slight hint of sweetness and spice, making them a perfect dish for the whole family. Honestly, I could eat them all day!
Whenever I go to Saizeriya, I order this side dish without fail. I bet most Japanese people would do the same. It’s one of their signature dishes after all.
According to Kurashi-no (2021), the top 5 dishes at Saizeriya are:
- Margherita Pizza
- Milano Doria
- Tomato Cream Risotto
- Karami Chicken
- Cheese on Chicken
Karami chicken is the No.1 side dish!
How I Developed This Recipe
After posting my Saizeriya’s Milano Meat Doira Recreation Recipe, I received tonnes of requests asking to recreate their Karami Chicken.
For this recipe, I aimed to capture the original flavor of Karami Chicken while enhancing the texture. I’m a huge fan of all things crispy, so I incorporated a blend of flour and starch into my batter, ensuring a crispier finish than Saizeriya’s version.
Plus, I have tailored the recipe for shallow frying, making preparation a bit easier!
Ingredients & Substitution Ideas
- Chicken wings: The recipe calls for the wingette (flat) part, same as Saizeriya, but feel free to use the whole wing—drumette, wingette, and tip—to reduce waste. Each part has its own unique texture and flavor profile, which makes your dish more interesting.
- White wine: Go for an affordable dry white wine that’ll complement the dish without overpowering it.
- Tomato ketchup: It adds a lot of depth to the marinade, creating a rich, tangy base for our sauce.
- Chili bean sauce (Toban Djan): Also known as doubanjiang, it adds incredible depth and subtle heat.
- Rice vinegar: If you can’t find it, apple cider vinegar or white vinegar are good substitutes, but they’re slightly more acidic.
- Oyster sauce: This sauce is packed with umami and adds a really complex, savory depth to the marinade.
- Fresh garlic: If you have time, grating fresh cloves is best for releasing more flavor, but store-bought garlic paste is a good option if you’re short on time.
- Sugar: Regular sugar works well.
- Cornstarch: Out of cornstarch? Potato starch or tapioca starch make excellent alternatives.
- Cake flour: While all-purpose flour can work, cake flour is recommended for its light texture.
- Cooking oil: When you’re shallow frying, it’s best to use a neutral oil with a high smoke point. I find that canola, sunflower, or peanut oil works really well. Personally, I love using rice bran oil or extra virgin (white) sesame oil.
Visual Walkthrough & Tips
Here are my step-by-step instructions for how to make Saizeriya-style Karami Chicken at home. For ingredient quantities and simplified instructions, scroll down for the Printable Recipe Card below.
Since the original dish only uses wingettes, cutting the chicken wings is important if you want a similar presentation. Feel free to use the tips and drumettes in the recipe though. Alternatively, leftover wing tips can be used in other recipes, such as making homemade chicken stock.
Start by stretching out the wing and feeling for the joint that connects the bones.
Once you find it, position your knife. Make sure to curl your fingers to prevent injuries! The knife should go through easily if you’ve found the right spot. (If the blade hits the bone, reposition and try again.)
If you bought your wings with the drumettes on, repeat this step on the other side so the wing is in three parts. In Japan, drumettes are usually sold separately, so I only needed to cut once.
Take a container or bowl and add white wine, tomato ketchup, chili bean sauce, rice vinegar, salt, oyster sauce, grated garlic, and sugar. Mix until well combined.
Roll the wings in the marinade until fully coated and place them in the container. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Once the chicken has finished marinating, start heating your oil to 160°C (320°F). Since we’ll be shallow-frying, use a deep frying pan or wok and add about 2cm (1 inch) of oil.
While you wait, add cornstarch and cake batter to the marinade.
Mix thoroughly until evenly distributed. The batter should become quite thick.
Once the oil has finished heating, add the wings and fry for 3 minutes on each side.
Increase the heat to 190°C (374°F) and fry for 1 minute on each side. This higher temperature will give them an extra crispy finish.
Transfer to a wire rack for a few minutes to allow any excess oil to drip off.
Enjoy your Saizeriya-style karami chicken in the comfort of your own home!
Jump to Full Recipe MeasurementsHow to Store
Refrigerated, this homemade karami chicken will last approximately 3 days, and if frozen, about a month. However, fried chicken wings tend to lose their flavor when stored for too long.
When frozen, the frying oil can slowly oxidize. Hence, it’s best to enjoy them soon after preparation when they’re at their best and only to make what you’ll consume promptly.
Storage summary
Room temperature – Not recommended.
Refrigerated – Up to 3 days.
Frozen – Up to a month.
I hope you enjoy this Karami Chicken 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 Fried Chicken Recipes
- Authentic Japanese Karaage
- Ultimate Chicken Breast Karaage with Lemon
- Peppery Nagoya Style Tebasaki (Yamachan Chicken Wings)
- Toriten (Chicken Tempura)
- Tatsuta-age (Shallow-fried Japanese Chicken)
Karami Chicken (Saizeriya Chicken Wings Copycat Recipe)
Ingredients
- 5 chicken wings
- 1 tbsp white wine
- 1 tbsp tomato ketchup
- 1 tbsp chili bean sauce (toban djan)
- 1 tsp rice vinegar
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp oyster sauce
- 1 tsp grated garlic or garlic paste
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- cooking oil for shallow frying
My recommended brands of ingredients and seasonings can be found in my Japanese pantry guide.
Instructions
- Start by taking a good sharp knife and chopping board. Stretch out each wing and feel for the joint. (If using wings with the drum attached, repeat this process on the other side so that the wing is divided into three parts.)
- Cut off the tips by cutting through the cartilage part in the fold. You can use the tips or save them for making chicken stock.
- Take a container and add 1 tbsp white wine, 1 tbsp tomato ketchup, 1 tbsp chili bean sauce (toban djan), 1 tsp rice vinegar, ¼ tsp salt, 1 tsp oyster sauce 1 tsp grated garlic, and 1 tsp sugar. This is your marinade.
- Mix it well and add the chicken wings to the container. Mix until fully coated and marinate for 30 minutes in the fridge.
Frying
- Take a deep frying pan and add oil so its about 2cm (1 inch) high. Heat your oil to 160 °C (320 °F).While you wait, add 2 tbsp cornstarch and 2 tbsp all-purpose flour to the chicken and mix it around. The flour and starch will mix with the marinade to make a thick batter over the chicken.
- Once the oil has finished heating, add the chicken 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 allow any excess oil to drip off.
- Serve while hot as a delicious appetizer, side or snack!
Greetings from Singapore!
Thank you for sharing posting SAIZERIYA’S KARAMI CHICKEN, we have this brand in Singapore & my family loves to order this.
Chanced upon you’re website while searching for a similar recipe, looking forward to trying out other recipes from you!
P.S: just wish to ask what’s you’re definition of weak flour for ingredients?
Many Thanks & best wishes
Greetings from Japan! I didn’t realise there is also Saizeriya in Singapore, that’s great to know!
Thank you so much, I hope you enjoy my recipes. 🙂
Weak flour is a type of wheat flour with low gluten content, it’s also known as cake flour or soft flour. It gives a lighter texture than all purpose flour. Hope that helps!
Good Evening,
thanks for replying! Looking forward to trying this out!
Have a great weekend ahead & be safe.
Looks delicious! Is there any substitute for the white wine?
Thank you so much! The white wine is to tenderize the meat and add a little sweetness and acidity. You could use an equal amount of apple cider vinegar instead, or half water half white wine vinegar so in this recipe 1/2 tbsp water 1/2 tbsp white wine vinegar. Alternatively it’s not going to ruin the dish if you simply omit the white wine, you can replace it with water to keep the same consistency. Hope that helps!
Hi!!! This is also our favorite side dish from Saizeriya, especially my husband. So much so he wants me to cook it for him. And he was the one who found your page. ☺️
May I know the type white wine that you use? I’m really clueless on which white wine to buy for cooking.
Sending this from Singapore as well!
Thanks a lot!!!
Hi Jeng! Thanks for your question (and generous rating!)
I personally use a sauvignon blanc because it’s light and doesn’t overpower the chicken. It’s also a bit acidic so it makes the chicken very tender.
I don’t have a go-to brand though. Hope that helps!
And I hope you and your husband enjoy the recipe 🙂
All the best!
Thanks muach!!!
Will try it out soon!
Greetings from Florida. I lived in Japan years ago (Yokosuka) and once the tsunami hit in 2011 we moved back to the states. I miss this resteraunt so much ! Happen to Google and find this! Can you air fry instead of deep fry?
Hi Jaz,
Thanks for stopping by! I don’t have an air fryer myself so I can’t say for certain, but the batter is quite thick so I think it should work. Of course, the cooking time will be different, but if you try it, please let me know how it goes!
And if I get around to buying an air fryer I will update the recipe. Thank you so much!
Sounds good thank you so much 🙂