Who doesn't love fried chicken? Learn how to satisfy your guilty pleasure craving at home with the double-fry method! The pairing of the crispy exterior with juicy thigh meat results in the perfect chicken karaage.
Wash and cook the rice in the following proportions: White rice - 435g of rice, 435ml of water; Bright orange rice - 145g of rice, 145ml of water, red and yellow food colouring.
Combine the rice vinegar, sugar and salt. Heat until the sugar completely dissolves. Allow to cool.
Once the rice is cooked, add in the cooled vinegar solution while stirring the rice with chopsticks.
Prepare the Chicken Karaage
Marinate the chicken with the garlic, light soy sauce, salt, sake, pepper and egg, mixing well. Cover with cling film and marinate in the fridge for 2 hours, best overnight.
Place the potato starch in a bowl and dip the chicken pieces in the bowl, coating the chicken pieces with potato starch. Heat the oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, deep fry a few pieces of chicken at a time until light golden.
Once all the chicken pieces are cooked. Heat up the oil over high heat and add the chicken pieces back into the wok in batches for a second deep fry (around 1 minute) until the chicken turns a nice golden colour.
Decorating
Steam the crab stick and broccoli until soft.
Shape the Japanese rice using the provided template to form Singa’s face, hands and t-shirt, as well as the heart. Scoop some rice on a piece of cling film, wrap the rice with cling film and compress it lightly to form a ball. Shape the rice ball based on the template.
Unroll the red section of the crab sticks and wrap them around the heart shaped rice ball.
Cut the Japanese seaweed by layering the provided template and cutting accordingly to achieve the details of the Singa’s face and the SG wordings.
Arrange the ingredients to form the bento.
Video
Notes
COOKING TIPS
Preparing the rice
Wash the rice 3-4 times to give it a better texture.
It is best to use chopsticks to avoid breaking up the rice grains while stirring!
Stir the rice in front of a fan to facilitate rapid cooling. This will help give the rice a glossy finish.
Preparing the chicken karaage
Let the chicken sit at room temperature after marinating to ensure even cooking.
It is important not to overcrowd the wok, otherwise, the chicken will not cook evenly.
DECORATING TIPS
Shaping the rice with cling film will hold it together and prevent it from sticking.
Use a plastic spatula for cleaner edges while shaping the rice.
Leave the rice wrapped in cling film whilst preparing other ingredients to prevent it from drying out.
Wrap the heart shaped crab stick rice ball in cling film to help the crab stick layer stay in place!
Use a pair of tweezers to be more precise when decorating.
Toothpicks are a useful tool to secure the decorative ham in place.
Use a straw to make circle cut-outs of the cheese.
The remaining ingredients can be used as fillers to prop up the rice.