Tatsuta-age (竜田揚げ) is a traditional Japanese dish made with marinated and fried chicken. The dish takes its name from the Tatsuta River in Nara Prefecture, Japan. The colours of the soy sauce and starch are reminiscent of the autumn colours of the Tatsuta River and the leaves of the trees that surround it.
The Tatsuta-age recipe involves marinating chicken in a base of soy sauce and other ingredients and then frying it.
Tatsuta-age is often served as a main course, a starter or as a garnish for rice bowls.
Note:
Karaage could be confused with Tatsuta-age, both of which are fried chicken dishes.
Karaage is originally a recipe in which the chicken is not marinated. In fact, if you look at the etymology of the word karaage, you'll see that it's made up of kara (empty) and age (fried), which reflects the fact that it's fried without adding any seasoning.
Today this has changed somewhat, as it is possible to find marinated Karaage, but with a less strong and pronounced flavour than Tatsuta-age.
Ingredients
- Soy sauce (10 tablespoons)
- Mirin (5 tablespoons)
- Cooking sake (5 tablespoons)
- Lemon juice (3 tablespoons)
- Ginger (about 20 grams)
- Pepper
- Potato (or corn) starch
- Chicken leg (about 600 grams)
- Optional: lemon slices, salad leaves and small tomatoes for presentation
Steps
1Remove the skin and bone from the chicken thighs, then cut into nice pieces.
2Peel and grate the ginger and set aside in a large bowl.
3In the same bowl, mix the soy sauce, mirin, sake, sesame oil and lemon juice with the ginger. You can add pepper to taste.
4Leave the chicken to marinate in the marinade for at least 30 minutes in the fridge.
5Place the corn starch in another bowl. Drain the marinated chicken pieces and coat with the corn starch. Be careful to remove the excess cornflour from the chicken pieces, otherwise it will leave white marks.
6In a pan filled with oil heated to 180 degrees, fry the chicken pieces.
7Set the fried chicken pieces aside on kitchen paper to remove any excess oil.
8Suggested presentation: accompany the Tatsuta-age with salad leaves, small tomatoes and lemon slices (as shown in the photo). It can also be served with a bowl of rice to make a more substantial meal.
