Japanese-Style Fried Chicken Thighs (Gluten-Free Karaage) Recipe

Once you've tried these marinated and double-dredged thighs, you will never make fried chicken any other way.

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Ideas in Food
Ideas in Food
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Aki Kamozawa and Alex Talbot are the voices behind the website Ideas in Food and the bakery Curiosity Doughnuts. They are chefs, food writers, photographers, educators, and culinary consultants, and they are here to make your food better.
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Updated August 01, 2023
Closeup of gluten-free Japanese-style fried chicken thighs set on a cooling rack.

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Why It Works

  • Butterflying and scoring the chicken thighs makes for better absorption of the marinade and more even cooking.
  • The marinade combines classic karaage ingredients with American buttermilk for added tenderness.
  • A double-dredging of potato starch makes the chicken extra crisp.

Karaage is Japanese-style fried chicken made with a flavorful soy-based marinade. It comes out light, crispy, and full of flavor. One of our favorite uses for potato starch is to coat fried foods—if you've never cooked with potato starch, this recipe will convince you that you must keep it in your pantry at all times.

Because we couldn't help ourselves, we butterflied the chicken thighs before marinating them. That lets the marinade penetrate more quickly and also promotes even cooking. And it increases the surface area, so you have even more crispy fried goodness to enjoy.

To butterfly the chicken, lay one chicken thigh skin side down on a cutting board, with the bone running vertically. Use a sharp paring knife to cut down the center to the bone, from top to bottom. Gently slide the knife horizontally to the left to butterfly the meat, being careful not to cut all the way through it. Carefully open the flap and lightly score the meat in a crosshatch pattern, again being careful not to cut all the way through the meat, then repeat on the right side of the thigh.

We add the thighs to the bowl with the marinade, a blend of Japanese flavors (ginger, scallions, soy sauce, sesame oil, and sugar), along with American buttermilk to make sure the finished chicken is juicy, tender, and delicious. After that, they go into a zipper-lock bag to rest for 12 to 24 hours.

The real key to an extra-crisp crust is double-dipping. We roll the thighs in the potato starch to coat, then put them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Once all the thighs are dredged, they go for a second dip into the potato starch.

Chicken thighs can handle a lot more heat than chicken breasts, which are prone to dryness, so you can fry these guys until they're extra golden brown and crispy. We fry them in a cast iron skillet with an inch and a half of oil, frying them for a full eight minutes on each side.

For the oil, we prefer rice bran. It's one of our favorite oils for frying. Produced from the bran of the rice kernel, it is 20% saturated fat and 80% unsaturated fat, has a light, nutty flavor, and is unlikely to cause allergic reactions. It has long been used in Asia both as a cooking oil and for cosmetic purposes.

As the chicken thighs finish cooking, we transfer them to a wire rack and keep them in a warm oven until all of them are cooked and ready to serve. Once you've tried this, you will never make fried chicken any other way.

Excerpted from the book Gluten-Free Flour Power by Aki Kamozawa and H. Alexander Talbot

September 2015

Recipe Details

Japanese-Style Fried Chicken Thighs (Gluten-Free Karaage) Recipe

Active 45 mins
Total 12 hrs
Serves 3 to 4 servings
Cook Mode (Keep screen awake)

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup (120g) buttermilk

  • 2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced

  • 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

  • 3 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced

  • 2 tablespoons (33g) gluten-free soy sauce

  • 1 tablespoon (14g) Asian sesame oil

  • 1 tablespoon (13g) light brown sugar

  • 1/4 teaspoon (1.5g) fine sea salt

  • 6 medium chicken thighs (about 2 1/4 pounds or 1kg)

  • 3 cups (552g) potato starch

  • Rice bran oil or peanut oil for deep-frying

Directions

  1. Put buttermilk, ginger, garlic, scallions, soy sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar, and salt in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth.

  2. Lay one chicken thigh skin side down on a cutting board, with the bone running vertically, and use a sharp paring knife to cut down the center to the bone, from top to bottom. Gently slide the knife horizontally to the left to butterfly the meat, being careful not to cut all the way through it. Carefully open the flap and lightly score the meat in a crosshatch pattern, being careful not to cut all the way through the meat. Repeat on the right side of the thigh. Add the thigh to the bowl with the marinade and repeat with the remaining 5 thighs.

    Overhead view of chicken thighs on a cutting board. Two are whole, and two are in the process of being deboned, butterflied, and scored.

    Serious Eats / Aki Kamozawa

  3. Mix the thighs and marinade together, coating each piece thoroughly. Transfer the meat and marinade to a large zipper-lock bag, press out as much air as possible, and seal the bag. Put the bag in a shallow bowl in the refrigerator and marinate for 12 to 24 hours, turning the bag occasionally to distribute the marinade evenly.

  4. Preheat the oven to 200°F (95°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set a wire rack on another baking sheet. Put the potato starch in a large bowl.

  5. Remove one chicken thigh from the marinade, brushing off any pieces of garlic, ginger, or scallion, and add to the potato starch. The marinade clinging to the chicken will help the starch adhere to the meat. Roll the thigh in the potato starch, coating it thoroughly, then put it on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining thighs. Then, beginning with the first thigh, dredge each one a second time in the potato starch and return it to the parchment-lined pan.

    The double-dredged chicken thighs, ready to fry.

    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

  6. Set a large cast iron skillet on the stovetop and add 1 1/2 inches of oil. Heat over medium-high heat until the oil reaches 375°F (190°C). Once the oil has come to temperature, add 2 or 3 chicken thighs to the skillet, depending on its size (be careful not to crowd the pan), and fry for about 8 minutes, until the bottom sides are golden brown. Flip the thighs and cook for another 8 minutes, or until they are a deep golden brown on the other side. Transfer to the rack set over the baking sheet and slide into the oven to keep warm. Fry the remaining chicken thighs, transferring them to the oven as they are done. If not serving immediately, turn off the oven and prop the oven door open a crack so that the thighs remain warm and crisp.

    The finished fried chicken thighs resting on a cooling rack, ready to serve.

    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

  7. Put the fried chicken on a platter and serve family style, with your favorite accompaniments.

Special Equipment

Rimmed baking sheets, parchment paper, wire rack, large cast iron skillet or chicken fryer, instant-read thermometer

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Nutrition Facts (per serving)
833Calories
49gFat
45gCarbs
57gProtein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 3 to 4
Amount per serving
Calories833
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 49g63%
Saturated Fat 13g64%
Cholesterol 285mg95%
Sodium 771mg34%
Total Carbohydrate 45g16%
Dietary Fiber 3g12%
Total Sugars 5g
Protein 57g
Vitamin C 5mg23%
Calcium 91mg7%
Iron 3mg18%
Potassium 1146mg24%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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