Best Trader Joe’s Frozen Chicken (It’s Not Mandarin Orange)

A few of my happiest recollections of visiting buddies in Kobe, Japan, revolve round going out with my Japanese buddies and nibbling ingesting snacks at izakayas, bars that usually occur to have glorious meals. My favourite dish of the lot is karaage (pronounced ‘ka-ra-ah-geh’). It’s a minimalist dish — simply darkish meat rooster chunks marinated in mirin and soy sauce, dredged in potato starch or flour, and deep-fried. It’s the good accompaniment to a chilly Sapporo beer; it’s additionally nice chilly tucked in bento bins or as a easy dinner alongside salad and rice.

Whereas making your individual karaage from scratch isn’t rocket science, I don’t love frying something at residence (there’s that conundrum about what to do with the used oil … and the odor), and getting the refined marinade flavors good generally is a little difficult. That’s why I used to be thrilled to seek out my favourite frozen karaage at Dealer Joe’s, and much more thrilled to find it lives as much as my recollections of the crispy rooster nibbles I’ve loved in Japan.  

The very first thing you discover about TJ’s karaage is the crunch. The grocery store manages to make a product that’s obtained a very crispy coating. Whether or not you air fry or bake it, the items prove golden-brown and crisp with tender chunks of rooster inside. 

The crispness is very necessary with karaage as a result of it’s usually served with lemon wedges that you just squeeze over the rooster. The juice would make a lesser breaded rooster nugget soggy, however TJ’s karaage stays miraculously crispy. It’s admittedly a bit extra batter than many of the karaage I’ve had in Japan, however it serves the aim of retaining it crispy.

TJ’s karaage is made with entire chunks of thigh and drumstick meat that keep juicy and have extra taste than breast meat when cooked. As for the flavour, TJ’s nailed the marinade right here. In response to the ingredient checklist, it’s a mixture of mirin (candy rice wine), white wine vinegar, ginger, and garlic. The result’s a refined, salty/candy taste that enhances the flavour of the rooster.

The dish is commonly served with a mayonnaise-based dipping sauce in Japan, and TJ’s obtained the memo. The 18.97-ounce bag comes with a packet of eggy mayonnaise made with salted egg yolk and malt vinegar, so it’s a lot richer than customary American mayo (assume: Kewpie mayonnaise, however extra luxurious).

I normally bake the rooster and serve it by itself with the mayonnaise and a wedge of lemon. To make it a meal, I’ll flip on the rice cooker and both costume blended greens with this gingery salad dressing, or simply crack open a jar of kimchi, if I’m feeling actually lazy. 

I’ve additionally discovered the rooster a helpful choice once I’m making ramen and don’t have one other protein readily available — I simply plop a handful of the rooster items on high, give it a sprinkle of shichimi togorashi, et voilà! Dinner.