Karaage

The technique entered Japan from China (Tang-dynasty 唐 + 揚 = Tang-style frying) but the modern dish dates to 1920s–30s industrial-canteen cooking. The decisive shift came in postwar Oita Prefecture (Kyushu): in 1960s Nakatsu and Usa cities, broiler chicken farms drove a local boom in shop-counter karaage, defining the marinade-heavy, soy-forward Kyushu style that became the national default.

Oita prefecture's Nakatsu and Usa cities both claim the modern recipe — chicken thigh marinated in soy, sake, ginger, garlic, dredged in potato starch, double-fried at 160°C then 180°C for the shatter.

Bite-size chunks of dark-meat chicken, marinated in soy, ginger, garlic, sake, then tossed in potato starch and fried. The shell is shatter-thin and pale gold, not dark — Japanese frying runs cooler than American. Squeeze lemon over, dip in Kewpie mayo if you like. Inside, the meat stays juicy from the marinade. Cold karaage is what bento boxes were made for.

Potato starch (katakuriko), not flour, is what makes karaage karaage. Starch granules form a glassy lattice that crackles instead of softening; flour goes leathery. Two-stage frying — 160°C to cook through, brief rest, then 180°C for color — is standard at counter shops; it gives the shell time to dry between dunks. Single-fry karaage either burns outside or weeps inside.