One of our favourites to order in a Japanese restaurant, this is just as good as restaurant quality. Don’t get me wrong, whenever we can go out to restaurants again (post Covid) I will still be delighted to sit in a booth and order ….. but for now I can at least satisfy my cravings. It is also one of Sloan and Stella’s favourites to order and I just know when we can gather around the Sunday dinner table again this will be requested.

• 1 lb chicken thighs cut 1 inch pieces
• 1/4 cup corn starch or potato starch
• 1/4 cup flour
• 4 cups canola oil
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 4 tbsp mirin (sub Sake if you have it)
• 2 tbsp minced garlic
• 2 tbsp minced ginger

Reserve the starch and flour for just prior to frying up. Combine soy sauce, miring, garlic and ginger in either a sealable plastic bag or bowl with lid. Stir in the chicken pieces and set aside. You can either do this earlier in the day or at late as 20 minutes before dinner – I find it very flexible.

Heat your oil to 350, if you don’t have a thermometer, just stick a chopstick in – if it sizzles happily, then it is time to add your chicken.

Toss the starch and flour together, then toss with chicken. It doesn’t matter if the coating is uneven, it just means more texture.

Add about 1/3 of the chicken at a time to wok – do not overcrowd. Any time you overcrowd when you are frying it reduces the temperature of the oil and that leads to greasy fried food! Keep the chicken moving while in the wok, and remove when golden brown. Sprinkle immediately with salt. Keeping the cooked pieces in a 200 degree oven allows them to retain their crispness while you do the remaining 2 batches.

DIPPING SAUCES – I’ve given two options because that’s the way I like it!

CREAMY

• 1/2 cup Kewpie Mayonnaise
• 3 tbsp sriracha
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 3 tbsp sweet chili sauce

SOY

• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 3 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
• chili oil to taste