Karaage is a staple of Japanese fried food. Chicken is the most popular material for karaage, but you can also use seafood and vegetables as you like. As you may know, the quality of the coating material is essential to make the best karaage.
In some cases, potato starch is used, and in other cases, all-purpose flour is used for the skin. It may vary depending on the recipe, so some beginners may think “which is the correct answer?”.
In conclusion, you can use either one. It is recommended to choose which one to use depending on what kind of result you want.
Here, I would like to explain the differences between karaage using potato starch and karaage using flour.
Interested in learning about Japanese frying dishes?
Tempura vs Karaage vs Katsu: What Are the Differences?
Karaage Made with Potato Starch
The characteristic of potato starch is that it has a crunchy and crispy texture. This type of karaage is also known as ” tatsuta-fried (tatsuta-age)” in Japan. It’s recommended when you want to enjoy the texture. However, over time, the crispy texture is lost. It will become softer.
Karaage Made with Flour
Immediately after frying, it’s crispy when flour is used. And it will be moisturized nicely over time. Because the meat is easy to get powdered, it should be easy to cook even for beginners. The flour can confine the taste of the meat, and it makes the chicken soft and juicy.
Others
In addition to the above 2 types, you could also use rice flour such as mochiko, joshinko, and the mixture of these. Rice flour actually can make the karaage chewy and crispy!
Shiratamako vs Mochiko vs Joshinko: What Are the Differences?
Karaage Made with Both Potato Starch and Flour
All-purpose flour and potato starch have their own good points. So, why don’t we use the mixture of those for making karaage?
Here are the ideas of using both of them. The texture will be different depending on how you put on the batter. Please try to cook in 2 ways below.
Use a 1: 1 mixture of potato starch and all-purpose flour
Coat the seasoned chicken with 1: 1 mixture of potato starch and all-purpose flour and fry it. The feature is that you can take good points of both: crispy and juicy texture.
Put flour on the inside and potato starch on the surface
If you want a more crunchy texture, let’s put potato starch after adding flour with the seasoning (At this time, the surface becomes thick because the seasonings and flour are mixed.) In this way, you can make extremely crispy karaage.
How About Tempura?
When making tempura, you will need all-purpose flour as a basic ingredient. I highly recommend to use the mixture of potato starch and all-purpose flour as well.
At that time, if there is too much potato starch, it may become too hard tempura. Therefore, I would say use a 1: 3 or 1: 4 mixture of potato starch and all-purpose flour.
If you like super crunchy tempura, you may want to add a little more potato starch.
