Curry Udon with Karaage (Japanese Fried Chicken)

Udon noodles are fun. They’re big, chunky and great in a number of different broths - from thin savory dashi-based stuff to thiccc boi Japanese curry. This time we’re making a classic Japanese Curry + Japanese Fried Chicken joint that we’ll refer to as “Curry Udon” 🤘🏼 Adam

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Curry Udon with Karaage (Japanese Fried Chicken)

Ingredients

Whole Wheat Udon Noodles

• 250g All-Purpose Flour
• 50g Whole Wheat Flour
• 135g Water, warm
• 15g Kosher Salt

Karaage (Japanese Fried Chicken)

• 2 pounds Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs
• ½ cup Soy Sauce
• 1 inch knob of Ginger, minced
• 2 Garlic cloves, minced
• 1 Egg, beaten
• 1 cup Potato Starch
• ½ cup Rice Flour
• Kosher Salt, to taste
• Neutral Oil, for frying

Instructions

Whole Wheat Udon Noodles

1. Dissolve salt into water. Add both All-Purpose and Whole Wheat flour to a large mixing bowl. SLOWLY incrementally pour the salted water into the flour, mixing with chopsticks as you pour. The flour should still look semi-dry without any large chunks of flour. Knead the dough by hand until it comes together into a craggley ball, cover with plastic and allow it to rest for 30 minutes.
2. Put the dough ball into a plastic bag. Place a clean kitchen towel on the floor, followed by the bag of dough, then another clean towel. With clean socks, step on the dough to flatten it. Remove it from the bag and, again, form it into a ball. Repeat this process for a total of 5 times. The ball should be quite smooth at the end of the stepping process. Cover and allow the dough to rest for 2 hours.
3. Dust a clean work surface with corn or potato starch and roll it out to a long rectangle about ⅙ inch thick. Fold the dough in thirds, like an envelope, then slice it into thin strips about ¼ inch wide. Once cut, dust the noodles with more starch.
4. Bring a large salted pot of water to a boil, drop in the noodles and cook for 5-10 minutes, until tender. Rinse under cold water and serve.

Karaage (Japanese Fried Chicken)

1. To a large bowl, add chicken, soy sauce, ginger, garlic and a beaten egg. Cover and marinade in the fridge for 30 minutes or overnight.
2. Preheat neutral oil to 375F. To a large ziploc bag, add the potato starch, rice flour and a big pinch of salt. Remove the chicken from the bag and pat dry with paper towels. Add the chicken thighs to the starch, close the bag and shake it to coat the chicken. Carefully fry the chicken incrementally (to ensure you do not crowd the pot) until golden for about 5 minutes. Remove the chicken from the fryer and let it rest for 5 minutes. Fry the chicken a second time until deeply golden brown, about 3-4 more minutes. Drain on a sheet tray fitted with a wire rack. Season with salt and serve.

Assemble

1. In a bowl, lay in a serving of udon noodles, ladle over the Japanese curry, place nestle 3 pieces of karaage on top and finish with thinly sliced scallions and CRUSH!

Adam's Notes

• Japanese curry is not hard to make from scratch, but I did not do it for this recipe. Instead I used this Instant Curry and thinned it out with instant dashi powder.



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