Hello! Hi everyone, Wesley here. Today we're diving back into our series dedicated to Japanese comfort food classics with a shot at honestly, one of the weirder fried chicken dishes that I have come across in a while, which is the Japanese chicken nanban. For those unfamiliar, chicken nanban is a Japanese styled fried chicken coated in egg and AP flour, then tossed in a bright vinegar based "nanban" sauce, and finally topped with a kewpie based tartar sauce. And if you're wondering (as I was) that...seems like a lot of unusual things to throw together. Then, you would be right, we are once again venturing into the realm of Japanese cuisine that has been heavily influenced by foreign culture. 

I think for me what stands out the most here though is the breading and batter itself. We're gonna be tossing our chicken into the nanban sauce to create a wet (but not glazed) piece of chicken, which means that we're going for a more tender and soft piece of fried chicken, rather than the crispy crunch you might find in a chicken karaage. Then finally to pair with this, the element that I think really ties this whole dish together is our tartar sauce, which in my opinion, vastly benefits from the use of Japanese sweet and savory kewpie mayo. Hope you try it.

This recipe is sponsored by TokyoTreat Japanese subscription snack boxes. Check out the link to learn more.

 

Serves 2-3

INGREDIENTS

  • 3 medium chicken thighs

  • 1/4 head cabbage

  • 64 oz fryer oil

INGREDIENTS (nanban sauce)

  • 4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce (or 2 tbsp full sodium soy sauce)

  • 2 tbsp mirin

  • 2 tbsp brown sugar

  • 1/4 cup rice vinegar

  • 1 inch (about 1 tbsp) ginger

INGREDIENTS (breading)

  • 1 egg

  • 2/3 cup AP flour

  • kosher salt

INGREDIENTS (tartar sauce)

  • 1 eggs

  • 1 large pickle spear

  • 1/2 medium white onion

  • 1 tbsp rice vinegar

  • 1/4 cup kewpie mayonnaise

PREP

  • MINCE the ginger, then combine all nanban sauce ingredients, set aside

  • SHRED the cabbage, set aside

  • MINCE the onion, then add to a large mixing bowl

  • DESEED the pickles, then combine with the onion and remaining tartar ingredients except for the egg

  • LARGE DICE the chicken thigh, set aside

  • WHISK one egg, then coat the chicken in the egg, followed by the AP flour, set aside

ON THE STOVE

  • HEAT a wok over medium heat, then add the nanban sauce and reduce for 1-2 minutes before removing and setting aside in a large mixing bowl

  • ADD one egg to a pot of cold water and bring to a boil, then let simmer for eight minutes

  • PEEL the hardboiled egg, then dice and mix into the tartar sauce

  • HEAT a fryer to 350 F, then fry the chicken 12-15 pieces at a time until golden brown

  • TOSS the fried chicken in the nanban sauce to coat

  • SERVE with a side of shredded cabbage and rice, and topped with tartar sauce

 

tagged chicken nanban, fried chicken, japanese fried chicken, japanese food, japanese cooking, tokyo treat, japanese snack box, woo can cook