Hey.
What’s up?
Oh yeah? Cool.
Yeah… me? Not much.
Good, now that we have THAT out of the way, let us resume talking about food and stuff. Due to factors too detailed to discuss, we’re gonna have to spend less time in the garden and more time in the kitchen. Still, as my zen friends like to say… that is what is.
What’s happened in the last… oh… several months? No one else died, for starters. On the other hand, I got a bunch of new chickens for the house, and one of them is… less henny and more roostery. I hope it ends well for MayBill (nee Maybelle), but it ain’t gonna end at the house. The Backyard Farm Store takes misdiagnosed hens “out to the farm” every week. (N.B., I believe they actually do take them to a farm, and they assert that they live out their lives in Caligula-like decadence. Sure. Why not.)
Otherwise, the white peaches have leaf curl despite two sprayings of Copper this winter. The other peach is on its last legs. Note to Pacific Northwesterners, farmer’s markets sell peaches. K? Unless you prefer to live in the garden equivalent of a hospice, buy them there.
The bees have been cranking out honey like the stuff grows on trees. So far, I’ve extracted two quarts, and they were so busy they barely took note of my presence. I’d like to get out there and make sure they’re not packing for a swarm (I figger I’ll split the hive when the swarm cells show up, and get two again.) Unfortunately, this is probably the crappiest spring weather on record (for me, anyway). I always tell people how it rains like hell in the winter and then is clear from about April to October… hah… I lie.
My own foodie perspective has shifted a bit. I’m much more interested in exploring food preparation these days. Specifically, I’ve begun to pursue my interests in Japanese and Indian cooking. Mostly, so far, it’s just cost me a lot of money. A recent trip to the local Japanese megamart (Uwajimaya) ran up to no less than $400. A good part of that was a suihanki (automatic rice cooker), but it’s amazing how fast little packs of seaweed and crap can add up.
The good news is that once you’ve visited Indian Food World for a jar of asafoetida and bag of star anise, you’re pretty much stocked… forever. I’ve got enough kombu seaweed in my freezer to make dashi (er… soup base?) until hell freezes over. The rice cooker that we brought back from Japan some six years ago continues to crank out batch after batch of perfect rice today. I assume that my new one will last a while.
OK, Ri, you’re saying… where’s the useful information? Jesus… relax… I’m getting there.
So far, I think it’s fair to say that I’ve mastered (like 100-year-living-on-a-mountain mastered) okonomiyaki, the poorly-named “Japanese pizza”, which it is not. I will do a whole episode on that one when I have my camera, which I do not.
Today’s adventure, though, is kara age, fried chicken nuggets. These little monsters are right up there with gyouza for their insatiable eatiness. It’s one of the dishes that I find myself practicing “enryou” (or polite restraint) when there’s a plate (or cup, if you’re at a street festival in Japan) in front of me. Beer and kara age. Picture me all fat, greasy-mouthed, and drunk. Smiling.
Rian’s Really Good Kara Age
- Oil for frying (I use canola to fry, but there’s absolutely no good reason for that, other than it doesn’t smoke as easily as olive)
- 1.5 lbs, or so, chicken thigh (thigh beats breast since it doesn’t dry out as much. Cut into bite-sizes chunks)
- 1 c. or so katakuriko (potato starch, get it at the Asian market. Don’t sweat the amount. Enough to coat the chicken pieces)
- 1/4 c. soy sauce (I prefer low-sodium, in general. Less sodium.)
- 1/4 c. mirin (rice wine? mostly called mirin… Asian foods aisles usually have it)
- 2-3 Tbsp sake (err… also rice wine… interestingly, all booze is “sake” in Japan. This is called “nihonshuu” or Japan Booze. It should be good enough to drink without flinching.)
- 1-2″ knob of fresh ginger, or maybe 1tsp? of the paste (sold in tubes near the chopped garlic in produce, usually)
- Optional additions:
- A smidge of 5-spice powder
- 1 tsp crushed garlic (*yes!)
- a dash of white, togarashi, and/or black pepper (*yes!)
- 1 Tbsp sesame oil
- hell, put cocoa in there if you feel like it, this is one of those things that’s made a lot of different ways in the Olde Country. Probably not with cocoa, though.
I’m still feeling my way around this stuff. I have it all kinds of different ways, and most were pretty dang good. That leads me to believe that it’s relatively hard to screw up if you get your oil temperature right. Too cool, and it’s greasy. Too hot, and it burns on the outside, doesn’t cook through, and ultimately tastes funky.
Note that you should own a thermometer. Just spend the $35 or whatever and get one. You could also throw <fill in thing> and wait <fill in time> for it to be <fill in condition>. You’ll probably throw it in once and figure “close enough” even though it was way too cool or hot. Just get a thermometer.
Right, where was I? OK, so, take yer chicken bits and put them in a bowl with everything but the potato starch and frying oil, obviously. Mix it all up and let it sit for 30-60 minutes. I’ve read that the sodium will actually toughen up the meat if it sits too long, though I have no empirical evidence to support that assertion. Try it, and let me know what happens.
After that, heat up your oil to 350-375 degrees F (roughly 175C, for you foreigners). You are, by now, using your thermometer.
Take yer chicken bits out of the marinade and toss them in your potato starch until they’re well coated. Lay them out on a baking sheet. Cover another baking sheet with a couple of layers of paper towels.
It’s go time.
Put the chicken into the thermometer-controlled hot oil. Do a few pieces at a time because they’ll a) cool the oil down, and b) turn into a stuck together mass if you put too many in. Fry them until they are a delicious brown– sorry, use your better judgment. When done, use your spider (I’ve quickly found this bamboo-handled, wire-mesh Chinese frying tool to be indispensible. They have them almost everywhere now. I got mine at Target, I think.) to extract the chicken nuggets, drain them a tad, and then spread them out on the paper towels.
Do the rest like that.
Let ‘em cool a bit and then eat until you’re 80% full. Give the rest to your grateful friends and family.
Where’s the super shiny picture? See earlier comment on “not having camera.” So… look at this randomly chosen picture:
From: wendalicious on flickr
They should look something like that.
Enjoy. A nice squeeze of lemon on them is usually tasty and doesn’t overwhelm the flavor.
MMmmmmm…