Miyazaki-Style Fluffy Chicken Nanban with Mustard Tartare

Method

1. Trim the fat and sinew from the chicken, open it out to an even 1.5 cm and cut each thigh in half. Rub in the salt and sake and refrigerate for 15 min. The salt seasons the meat right through and keeps it juicy after frying.

   Add in this stepBoneless chicken thighs 320 gSalt ½ tspCooking sake 2 tsp

2. Put the tartare eggs in a 14 cm pot, cover with water and bring to the boil over high heat, then turn down to medium heat and cook for 10 min until hard-boiled. Cool in cold water and peel.

   Add in this stepEggs (for the tartare) 2

   medium heat

3. Chop the shallot and cornichons very finely; soak the shallot in water for 5 minutes and squeeze dry. Finely chop the egg whites and mash the yolks with a fork. Mix everything with the mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, parsley and pepper into a chunky tartare and refrigerate.

   Add in this stepShallot (or onion) 20 gCornichons 20 gMayonnaise 4 tbspDijon mustard 1 tspParsley, finely chopped 2 tspBlack pepper to taste

4. Put the rice vinegar, sugar, mirin, light soy, dashi and the deseeded chilli in a small pan and boil on medium heat for 2 min to soften the vinegar's sharpness and cook off the mirin's alcohol. Pour into a wide dish.

   Add in this stepRice vinegar 3 tbspSugar 2 tbspMirin 1½ tbspLight soy sauce (usukuchi) 1½ tbspBonito dashi 3 tbspDried red chilli 1

   medium heat

5. Pat the marinated chicken dry. Dust it thinly with a third of the flour and shake off the excess. Whisk the rest of the flour into the beaten egg to make a thick batter and dip the chicken to coat it generously. This egg batter is the secret of the fluffy Miyazaki coating.

   Add in this stepPlain flour (soft) 3 tbspEggs (for the batter) 1

6. Pour at least 2 cm of oil into a 22 cm pot or deep pan and heat on medium heat to 160 °C. Slide the chicken in, away from you, and fry for 3 min, turning once, then rest on a rack for 3 minutes. Raise the heat to high heat; at 185 °C return the chicken for 1 min until deep golden and crisp. Fry in batches if crowded, keep any water away from the oil and never leave the pan.

   Add in this stepVegetable oil for frying 500 ml

   medium heat→high heat

7. Dip the hot chicken straight into the nanban vinegar, 20 seconds per side, then slice 2 cm wide; the cut surface should show no pink. Lay it on the cabbage, spoon over a little nanban vinegar, top generously with tartare and serve with lemon wedges.

   Add in this stepCabbage, finely shredded 100 gLemon, cut into wedges ½