Karaage Chicken with Plum Sauce

Crispy fried chicken chunks glazed with sweet plum sauce.

If you frequent Japanese restaurants, you may have seen Karaage Fried Chicken on the menu. It's simple crispy fried chicken chunks that most likely was drizzled with teriyaki sauce. It's a pretty easy dish to make for dinner or as an appetizer. It just depends on how large you make the chicken pieces.

I wanted to do mine a little different, so one night when the picky grandkids were staying for dinner, I made Karaage Chicken because they love fried chicken. Who doesn't? They also love teriyaki, but I thought I'd be sneaky and try a different sauce. I didn't want to venture too far from teriyaki sauce, so I did a plum sauce that kind of looked like a teriyaki sauce. Could it fool them? Success! The grandkids loved it and even told mom to make it for them. Of course, the adults loved this too, so it made its way onto my blog as an appetizer. And instead of a drizzle, I brushed the sticky sauce on the fried chicken chunks, so each piece is yummy.

You'll Need:

• 4 chicken thighs    
• milk
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 4 T plum sauce (comes in a jar found in Asian food aisle)
• 1 tsp Sriracha sauce     
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup rice flour
• oil for frying

Debone the chicken thighs and cut into four or five pieces depending on size of the thigh. Place in a bowl with enough milk to cover the meat. Add the garlic with a dash of salt. Set aside while you make the sauce.

Combine the balsamic vinegar, sugar, plum sauce and sriracha sauce in a small pot. Cook over medium heat for a few minutes to slightly thicken and dissolve the sugar. 

Combine the all purpose flour and rice flour. Dredge the chicken pieces and set aside. Deep fry the meat until golden and crispy. Brush the meat with the sauce while hot.