Karaage

Method

1. Cut the chicken into 5 cm (2 inch) pieces and season with the salt and pepper.
2. Grate the ginger and add ½ tsp of it, with its juice, to a large bowl. Mince or press the garlic and add it to the bowl.
3. Add the soy sauce, sake, sesame oil and MSG and whisk to combine.
4. Add the chicken and mix it through with your hands. Cover and marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes.
5. While the chicken marinates, pour the oil into a heavy-based pot to a depth of at least 2.5–4 cm (1–1½ inches). Heat it to 160°C (325°F) over medium-low heat, so you have time to coat the chicken.
6. Put the flour and the potato starch in separate piles on a tray. Lightly coat a piece of chicken in the flour and dust off the excess, then dredge it in the potato starch and shake off the excess. Set it on a separate tray and repeat with the remaining chicken.
7. Check the oil has reached 160°C (325°F). Without a thermometer, dip a wooden chopstick in: it's hot enough when small bubbles appear around the tip.
8. First fry: add 3–5 pieces at a time without overcrowding the pot, since too many at once drops the oil temperature and the chicken absorbs too much oil. Fry for 90 seconds, or until light golden. Drain on a wire rack. If the chicken browns too quickly, the oil is too hot: add a few more pieces or lower the heat.
9. The chicken keeps cooking in its own heat as it rests. Fry the remaining pieces, scooping out the crumbs with a fine-mesh sieve between batches to keep the oil clean.
10. Second fry: raise the oil to 180°C (350°F). Return the rested chicken, 3–5 pieces at a time, and fry for 45 seconds, or until golden brown and crispy. Drain on the wire rack.
11. Serve hot with lemon wedges and a dish of Kewpie mayonnaise, sprinkled with shichimi togarashi if you like.