Japanese chicken

Let's get started!

First off, marinate your chicken thighs (cut into nice strips) in the soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil. 

I got this recipe for chicken skin crisps from Sergio Herman without any directions, so I tried to work out the best way to do this myself.

I get my chicken skin from the thighs. You can ask your butcher if you want large quantities.

Boil it for 5 minutes, so it will contain less water when we fry it.

We now blend some tapioca (watch out if you got pearls, you'll need to blend them into powder, not an easy task! If you can get some tapioca powder it will relieve you from the tedious task of grinding it ...), some chicken skin, some ground chicken (use about the same amount as the skin), and some chicken powder to season it.

You can now either sous-vide it for 10 mins at 90°, or you can spread it on a silpat and put it in the oven for about 10 mins on 100°.

You can now fry the chicken skin in a bottom of peanut oil at 180° until it gets crispy! Put aside on a paper towel to remove excess oil.

Now take your marinated chicken (I marinate mine at least 5 hours in the fridge). Heat a wok until it starts to give off smoke. Now pour a little peanut oil in it and throw in a batch of chicken. 

Let it stick to the wok for 30 seconds, now toss it around with a spatula (if you don't want to get your stove dirty...) for about 2-3 minutes. The chicken should still be a bit raw/chewy on the inside, the heat will make sure it cooks enough on the inside. When ready you will have delicious tender chicken that's a bit springy. I got a video in my Techniques Blog if you want to see how I do it. Watch it here.

We're now ready to plate. We'll have to be quick. Put the fried chicken skin and chicken side by side on a plate.

Now squeeze out some Okonomiyaki sauce and some Kewpie mayonnaise. This will enrich the umami taste feeling.

You can replace one of the mayonnaise drops with some lime mayo to add a bit of a sour touch.

Add some cilantro leaves and cover with the sesame seeds.