350g/12.3oz chicken thigh fillets , cut into large bite size pieces
20g/0.7oz corn flour / cornstarch
Vegetable oil for deep frying
Marinade:
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp cooking sake
1/2 tsp mirin
2 tsp freshly grated ginger including juice
Garnish (optional):
Shredded lettuce or cabbage
Sprigs of parsley
Pat chicken pieces dry with paper towel. Put the chicken and the Marinade ingredients into a ziplock bag or a bowl. Massage the bag well ensuring that all pieces are coated with the marinade. Marinate for 30 minutes to an hour. Heat enough oil in a deep pot or pan to 160°C/320°F. The depth of the oil should be about 3-4cm/1¼-1½”. Meanwhile, drain excess marinade from the chicken, place the chicken pieces on paper towels to remove excess liquid, and put them in a bowl. Sprinkle over the corn flour and turn chicken to coat every piece with corn flour. Fry chicken in batches. Add several chicken pieces to the oil one by one and fry for about 2.5-3 minutes. You may want to move the chicken pieces around as they tend to stick to the bottom of the pot/pan. Take the chicken pieces out of the oil and rest for at least 3-4 minutes on paper towels. Repeat with remaining chicken pieces. Skim any flour crumbs from the oil if there are any and increase the temperature of the oil to 190-200°C/374-392°F. Put the chicken pieces back into the oil in batches and fry for about 30 seconds to 1 minute until golden brown and crunchy. Repeat with remaining chicken pieces. Serve immediately with shredded lettuce and parsley for decoration if using.