ZANGI (Hokkaido Style Fried Chicken)

6 Serves

Ingredients
1kg Chicken thighs with skin (boned)
40g Grated ginger
4 Cloves of grated garlic
3 Tbsp Sake
4 Tbsp Soy sauce
2 tsp Salt
2 Tbsp Sugar
1 tsp Ground white pepper
1 tsp Ground black pepper
2 Eggs
4 Tbsp Plain flour
10 Tbsp Katakuriko (potato starch)

Instructions
Clean the thighs by trimming off the fat and connective tissues as they affect the flavour and texture of the final product.
Lightly pound the meat using a knife. This enables the chicken meat to absorb the marinade better and more quickly. Cut each thigh evenly into six chunks.
Put the chicken pieces into a bowl and add the grated garlic, grated ginger, salt, black pepper and white pepper. Rub them into the chicken using a hand.
Add the Sake, soy sauce, and sugar and rub again till the liquids are absorbed into the chicken.
Add the eggs, flour and Katakuriko. Mix well with a hand till they become battery and coat the surface of the chicken pieces. Cover it with plastic wrap and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 5 hours.
The key to crunchy fried chicken is “double frying”. Heat up the oil in a deep frying pot or a wok to 160Celsius.
Give the marinated chicken pieces a good stir to separate and put them into the oil one piece at a time. Fry them for minutes. Pay attention not to overcrowd your pot. The amount of chicken per batch should be up to half the amount of the oil. After 3 minutes as passed, take the chicken out and move on to the next batch.
Rest the chicken for at least 3 minutes on a wire rack, by which the residual heat cooks the meat through the centre while keeping the juice inside.
Increase the oil temperature to 180Celsius. Put the chicken back into the oil and fry until the batter gets crunchy. Here is the trick-while frying, stir and lift them up out of the oil frequently. This will make the Zangi batter extra crunchy.